


Let me into your orbit

by hblake44



Category: K-pop, LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, We're in space, haseul is a scientist turned hacker, other members will feature, viseul are the main ship, vivi is an android, vivi is the queen of a planet (half of one)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29264316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hblake44/pseuds/hblake44
Summary: “Most of my body is synthetic,” the queen said. “It has been for about five years, which includes my brain.” Viian tapped her head, before pointing at her eye. “We were at negotiations with Kepler and someone took the opportunity to place a virus in my head.”In other words, Haseul is a hacker who got caught, and her chance at freedom is helping Vivi, the queen, who's also an android, get a virus out of her head.
Relationships: Jeon Heejin/Kim Hyunjin, Jo Haseul/Viian Wong | ViVi, Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 30
Kudos: 66





	1. It can't be coincidence

**Author's Note:**

> Vivi is the queen of the southern half of Aphrodite. A synthetic lifeform, android, or cyborg, since an assassination attempt nearly took her life. 
> 
> Haseul is the leader (in name only) of Eden. Began as a researcher for artificial intelligence on Saturn, before she fled the lab for unknown reasons. She went through the Kepler System and was recruited by Eden. Proficient in hacking and the reparations of neural implants and other brain-computer/computer-brain interfaces. 

The knocking sound drove itself into her ears. 

“Shut up,” Haseul groaned. “Don’t make this more of a hell than it already is.” 

“It’s time for a walk.” The door slid open, parting to reveal a woman with long black hair and a face that barely emoted. 

“Do you have my fingers?” Haseul lifted her right hand, the one that still had the first two fingers missing. Her left hand was missing the middle two and her thumb. 

“We analysed them,” Hyunjin shot back. “I’m not about to let you pick your way out of this cell or send your location to Eden.” 

Haseul tried to put on a little pout. “But you deprived me of my prosthetics.” 

She frowned at her. “One of them has a blade hidden in it.” Then she walked over to her and heaved her up.

Haseul groaned. “Fingers or not, I could still take you.” A lie, because Hyunjin looked like she’d been training all her life. 

“Did you want to have a good dinner?” Hyunjin asked, brushing off her fine clothes and giving her a crooked grin. “Or would you rather have the slop we save for rations.” 

“No,” Haseul croaked. “Not the slop again.” She’d thrown up for the better part of yesterday morning. “I don’t hate you.” 

“Good.” Hyunjin clapped her hands. “That’ll help you loads where we’re going, so keep it up.” 

She frowned at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She looked at her hands, which still hadn’t been bound. “Where’re we going?” She felt cold. Was this the day they’d finally figured out what they’d do? Was she going to be launched into space? Sent straight to the sun? Forced to crash-land on one of the moons? Stranded on some random island on Aphrodite? 

“Relax,” Hyunjin’s expression actually softened, “you might have a job.” 

Haseul gaped at her. “So I’m picking up garbage, right? That’s what you make your prisoners do? Or is it dust gathering in orbit? I’m a good dust collector.” 

“First,” Hyunjin raised a hand, “shut up.” She put down a finger. “Second, we don’t make you pick up garbage here. That counts as slave labour.” The next finger went down. “Dust collecting requires training that you don’t have. You may not be the worst pilot, but you need actual skill for the dust.” The other finger went down. “And third, this's a job that’ll need your skill and knowledge. We’ve got a virus.” 

She couldn’t believe her ears. Putting a computer in front of her was the worst idea for these people. She’d get out word to Sooyoung and then be well on her way for a good break-out. 

“Don’t worry,” Hyunjin winked, “I’m not letting you in a good thirty metre-radius of an actual comp. This’s a different type of virus.” 

“I don’t do machines,” Haseul said. “That’s outside of _my_ training.” That wasn't actually a lie. 

Her lip curled. “By that logic, you couldn’t handle any interface.” She grimaced, probably thinking back to why Haseul was here in the first place.

Haseul smiled. “And I really can handle those, eh?” She elbowed her side, before dancing away as the guards around them stiffened. “So is that the job?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “The royal entourage has you for its guns, that little devil manning the helm, and the pretty one for everything else? But no mechanic?” 

“We have one,” Hyunjin growled. “Just drop the thing with the machines. That’s not why you’re needed.” 

“I’m gonna need you to tell me what exactly you need me for, Kim,” she clicked her tongue, “I’m a busy woman out here, stranded in space.” 

“You’re on a well-defined route to Aphrodite,” Hyunjin said through gritted teeth. “And you’re going to do what she tells you.” 

She. Right. 

Because Haseul had had the luck of being detained by the royal guard instead of general security. Then she'd been put onto a different ship, one that held one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. 

That was probably one of the only reasons Haseul had for being scared. That, and the potential threat of an execution. Or being shipped back to Earth. 

“Yes I will,” Haseul nodded, “unless it’s firing on my base. Won’t do that.”

Hyunjin’s fists were clenched. 

“What’s taking you so long?” It was Heejin, someone who was almost too pretty to be ‘just’ an underling to royalty. She put her looks to good use, being one of the spokespeople and maybe even a diplomat in some circumstances (at least when Aphrodite was trying to be diplomatic). 

“She’s being insolent,” Hyunjin replied.

Heejin’s expression softened into a sweet smile. “Because she knows how to push your buttons. I told you you shouldn’t have been the one to be responsible for her.” 

Haseul was slightly surprised that the girl would even mention that. It was just more information. 

Then again, maybe that was intentional. 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t holding her hands in fists anymore. “We’ll see if she does it.” 

“Bet you five signals she runs out screaming.” Heejin sent Haseul a little grin. 

Hyunjin straightened. “Bet you ten she manages it.” 

Haseul looked between them. 

Then Heejin chuckled, sending Haseul a wink. “She’s got faith in you.” She put her hand on the dial by the door. “So just be very clear that whatever you see in that room, if you tell someone, we’ll either wipe your memory completely, or sentence you to garbage duty in Kepler.” 

“So you’re saying that if I walk in there,” Haseul trailed off, nodding at the door. 

“You’ll come back out,” Heejin replied. “But you’ll just be sworn to secrecy now.” With a dazzling smile, she pushed the door open.

Then Hyunjin shoved her into the room. 

Haseul’s jaw dropped when she actually saw it. To say she hadn't expected it was an understatement.

On the far end were windows to reveal the route they were taken: the endless expanses of space with an asteroid drifting off to the side. 

A massive set of computers stretched out over the room and across the walls. There was a huge harness to the side. It looked like it was supposed to hold an armour suit, but it was empty. On the floor were prosthetics, but they were covered in a grey type of armour. There were two arms and two legs, plus a helmet. What did they need _that_ for?

“Oh wow.” Haseul went over. Was the queen a tech lover? Somehow, that made her less intimidating. Also more threatening at the same time. 

“Nice, isn’t it?” 

She jumped, whipping her head around. Then she gasped. 

The queen stood off to the side, hands folded. She had long orange hair and wore a deep blue suit. “Hello, Dr. Jo.” 

Haseul grimaced at the title. “You know who I am?”

She waved her hand. “I do.” Haseul’s face appeared on the screens, as well as many lists. “Might’ve found your file as well. Well, technically Hyunjin put it together.” 

Haseul couldn’t move. The queen of Aphrodite, well, the southern half of it, was here. She’d known she was on the ship, of course she had, but it hadn’t been her plan to meet the woman. And the ship was massive. 

“I’ll admit, I’m still struggling to understand why exactly you came here of all places.” The queen went over to one of the computers, setting her hands on the keyboard. She didn’t type anything, but the screen flickered to something else. “And why you didn’t take very much.” 

Haseul frowned, squinting so she could see what was there. 

“You can come closer,” said the queen. She nodded to the door. “I can guarantee you that neither Heejin nor Hyunjin will step in.” She looked back to the computer. Her brow then furrowed and she closed her eyes. 

Haseul went over, slowly, eying the two at the door. Hyunjin looked a little nervous. Heejin was calm. 

When she got a metre away from the queen, she stopped. She’d never met a royal before, but instinct told her to keep her distance. 

Then she looked at what was on the screen. Her heart sank. It was the trajectory of her trip here, including the stop at the coast where she’d smuggled herself up to the cruise ship. There was also a list of what she’d taken from said ship. 

“No one else has these,” the queen said. Her brow had smoothed over again. “I’m not threatening you, only telling you that it’s no surprise that you’re here, or even that I am.” 

The queen had been an unexpected arrival. It’d worked in Haseul’s favour at the time, because they’d held a massive feast. She'd nearly gotten away, but when she'd reached her shuttle, Hyunjin had been waiting for her. 

“You’re telling me you planned this?” Haseul asked. “That you’d arrive, I’d get caught, and then you’d bring me here?” She looked to the doors, then the other two. No weapons had been drawn yet. 

“I told you,” the queen said, raising her hands. “I’m not threatening you.” Her left eye had caught the light of the screen weirdly. It was shining. Her skin was also covered in faint scars, including a pretty large one on her neck. Haseul almost hoped it’d just been an ugly surface-level cut, because otherwise she didn’t want to think about what this particular queen had gotten mixed up in. 

“Then why am I here?” Haseul took a few steps back. “You kept me there for two days.” She didn’t mention that it’d been surprisingly comfortable for a prison cell. And the food hadn’t been terrible either, except for when she'd pissed Hyunjin off. Accidentally, of course. 

“We needed to see if you were being followed. If there’d be a rescue within the first day.” The queen shook her head. “It wouldn’t have been worth the risk if your friends had come for you.” Then she sighed, leaning against the desk behind her. She massaged her temple. “You’ll be free as soon as you help me. Even if you can’t, there’ll be an escape pod ready.” Her eyes shut. 

The screens started to flicker. Haseul saw diagrams appear and then disappear, followed by footage from the ship itself, and then of Aphrodite. Then it went back to the information on Haseul. A _lot_ of information. 

Hyunjin and Heejin both stepped away from the door. 

Haseul walked backwards. She looked around for a weapon, anything she could use. 

Except the two girls went to the queen instead. 

“You shouldn’t have touched it,” Hyunjin said, pulling her away from the computers. “And turning them all on?” 

“For dramatic effect,” the queen muttered. Then she groaned, holding her hands to her head. “I need them off.” 

Then the screens all went out. The queen cringed, before relaxing. 

“Give her back her things, Hyun,” the queen said, still massaging her head. 

Heejin brushed past Haseul and went for the wall, turning the lights on. 

"She's a risk with these things on," Hyunjin said. "There's a recording chip on each of them too." 

The queen waved a hand. "I'll know if she switches them on." 

Hyunjin handed Haseul a box. Inside were her own prosthetics. 

One by one, she secured them onto her knuckles, feeling a small buzz in her brain every time one attached. She’d lost them in the accident. Now she had fingers that gave her an incredible grip, and hid a great many surprises, courtesy of Chaewon. 

Haseul felt a lot calmer with complete hands. She crossed her arms, hoping that she wasn’t giving away the fact that she was starting to feel really terrified. “What the hell was that?” 

Heejin raised a brow. “Do remember who you’re in the presence of.” 

“What was that?” Haseul repeated. “Were you doing that?” She shot Heejin a pointed look. “Your Majesty?” 

“It was me,” the queen said. She lightly tapped her head. 

Haseul froze. A brain-computer-interface. To about seven computers. With no wires? No helmet? Not even glasses? “Is there a chip malfunction?” She wouldn’t have thought a queen would let someone put a _hugely_ experimental technology in her head. Especially if there were side effects. Haseul had tried it with a chip and immediately regretted it. She’d also gotten bouts of dizziness for a month afterwards. 

“Not a chip.” The queen straightened. “It’s me.” She gently pushed past Hyunjin and went over to the harness. 

“Was it a surgery?” Haseul asked. “Your people developed some cutting edge mastery and you were the first for it?” 

“In a way.” The queen picked up an arm, turning it over in her hands. “It might be easier to just show you. Then we can go through the technicalities later. When this spell of mine’s over.” She waved at her face. Her left eye was still glowing. Even without the light of the screens. 

_I'll know if she switches them on._

“Uh,” Haseul stammered, “Your Majesty, I don’t—” 

“You should probably be calling me Viian,” the queen chuckled, “if you end up agreeing to this.” She put the prosthetic arm on the table. “Because I need your help.” She sent her a surprisingly reassuring smile. "Though I should ask first, the work you did, on neural networks. That was all legitimate, correct?” 

Haseul grit her teeth. "It was in the beginning." She clenched her fist, the metal of her fingers digging into her palm. 

"And what happened after with Eden, also legitimate, correct?"

She tried not to look surprised. She probably should've expected the queen to know about that. “Not legal, but I didn’t cut corners for it. Not for something like that.” They'd saved the detours for things that _wouldn’t_ cause severe brain damage. 

Viian smiled. “Good.” She put her hand on the back of her shoulder. There was a clicking sound, followed by a whirring one. 

And then the queen’s arm slid off of her body. 

It left a bright collection of wires and connections Haseul couldn’t really name. When she looked closer, she swore she saw that the small loops were dark red. Was that blood? And was she actually seeing a part of the shoulder blade? Or was that metal made to look like it? 

Haseul stared as the queen picked up the prosthetic arm and aligned it with the connections, before putting it on. Now she had an armoured arm. 

“Most of my body is synthetic,” the queen said. “It has been for about five years, which includes my brain.” She tapped her head, before pointing at her eye. “We were at negotiations with Kepler and someone took the opportunity to place a virus in my head.” 

Haseul felt dizzy. Did this mean the queen wasn’t the queen? Was she a robot? Android? Something else? 

“And what’s that got to do with me?” Haseul hated how shaky her voice sounded. 

Viian looked sympathetic. “You're planning to build a synthetic life-form, aren't you?” 

Haseul shook her head. She prayed this was from the queen’s hopefully freakish processing power and not from actual intel they had on her. On the others. 

“I know what was stolen,” Viian continued. “I know you’ve sent it to your people. And it’ll get there safely, not one ship following it.” She fixed her with a look. It wasn’t intimidating, but Haseul still felt small. “Whatever that project of yours is, you’ll finish it. No one’s going to interfere with it.”

“It’s not a project,” Haseul shot back. 

Hyunjin frowned at her. In her eyes was a warning. 

Viian only shook her head at the girl. “My father did the same thing,” she said. She put a hand to the side of her head again, letting out a small sigh. “I was caught in an explosion, an assassination attempt.” 

Which wasn’t all that uncommon. Ever since the fiasco with the Earther princess, revolts had been more frequent. 

And apparently, one of them had been successful. 

“Enough of my body was still intact, so they managed to salvage what they could to create this." She waved at herself. "The information in my brain was also largely preserved. Thanks to your research.”

Haseul winced. “That’s a few years old.” 

“Might be a surprise,” Viian shrugged, “but very few have been able to replicate it, even less with actual success.” She waved at herself. “I’m unlisted, naturally. No one was supposed to know.” 

Haseul looked at Heejin and Hyunjin then. Heejin was wringing her hands, looking at the queen with very clear worry in her eyes. Hyunjin was looking at Haseul, her gaze unreadable. 

“Except for me?” Haseul reached for one of the chairs and sat down. Her head was still spinning. 

“Except for you.” She nodded. Then she flinched, as if the movement had hurt. “You’re trying to do the same for someone else, aren’t you? Someone you lost?” 

“I already hooked them to the software,” Haseul said. “They’re the voice of our ship.” 

“So you’re making the body?” 

Haseul almost stopped talking then and there. It wasn’t exactly illegal to do. If you didn’t get caught, you could practically do anything in the Coruscant system. 

And the queen was an actual android. That threw legality right out the airlock. 

“Trying to,” Haseul nodded, “you had skin reconstructors here. We needed those.” 

“And you’ll need my schematics,” Viian replied. “I’m one of the only working synthetic lifeforms that can live in some parallel to a human.” 

Heejin stiffened then. “You can’t show her how.” 

“I can,” the queen said. “If I’m trusting her not to destroy me, I can trust her not to spread that information around.” She looked at Haseul, sending her a light smile. “I can, can’t I?” 

Haseul stared at her, then she looked at the arm, then the harness. The queen was an android and she was asking her for help. 

Aphroditans were tricky. As with everywhere else in the universe, some of them were _very_ preoccupied with rising up the ranks. Queen Viian didn’t exactly have anywhere else to go except for the whole of Aphrodite, but nothing of the last years had ever suggested that the southern hemisphere wanted to take over the north. As for the Earther disaster, the south had had no role in it.

A part of Haseul felt like she could trust the queen. Maybe she’d been blinded by the whole ‘I’m an android’ reveal, but maybe all she really wanted was for Haseul to just get that virus out of her head. 

Then again, there was also the possibility that the queen would just imprison her again afterwards, keeping her around in case another virus came. Haseul would need a backup plan to get out of it just in case. 

If she managed to get access to their computers, or even her gear, then she’d have a way out. 

Haseul couldn’t say no. The queen was the answer to the problem. Whatever Haseul learned here, she’d be able to get it back to Sooyoung. And Hyejoo. 

“I’ll do it,” Haseul said. “And you can trust me.”

The only acknowledgement that got was Heejin transferring over the five signals too Hyunjin. Viian just leaned back against one of the monitors, smiling softly. 

“Thank you,” she said. “Hopefully it works.” 

“What happens if it doesn’t?”

Viian grimaced. “Well,” she detached the armoured arm again, setting it on the table, “if I really start to malfunction, I’ll step down and shut down.” 

“Step down?” Haseul frowned. “You weren’t elected.” 

The queen gave her a look. “I’m not about to leave this planet in the care of corrupted software.” She handed Hyunjin the armoured arm. Heejin had already retrieved her real one. “We’ve checked to see if any of what I’ve done has changed since that virus was placed, but it hasn’t. Heejin thinks it’s corrupting the software first, breaking it down enough, so that it can either be vulnerable to another attack, or I shut down completely.” 

“Oh.” Haseul’s voice came out as a croak. 

“Indeed.” Viian nodded, her smile growing slightly. “No pressure.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Viseul are the main characters. The other members may feature, but definitely not much. There might be spin-offs if I really enjoy writing their characters, but I can't make any promises there. 
> 
> I started writing the first chapter and I absolutely love these two characters already. This story is in the same universe as another one of mine, but you definitely don't need to know anything about it. Aphrodite is the main planet of the Coruscant system, where the rule is divided between two hemispheres. Artemis is a space station in the same system. 
> 
> The biggest sci-fi elements here will probably just be the space travel and Vivi being an android. No space battles, probably, or anything else like that. My plan for this is to just have a fun story set in space where Viseul are in the forefront. The science will probably not be accurate at all, but I'll try my best to not make it too ridiculous. Exhibit A: by definition, I think Vivi would count as a cyborg, but the way I set things up, she almost counts as an android at the same time. 
> 
> Not sure how often I'll be able to update and I plan for this story to not be too long. However, I've got no guarantees just yet. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. 


	2. Drop the title

“You’re kidding, right?” Haseul brandished her fingers in front of Hyunjin’s face. “You took out the knives?” 

Hyunjin held her gaze. “You’re on one of the most secure ships in this system. You’re not getting a weapon.” 

“My fists are part metal,” Haseul held them up, “that’s a weapon.” 

She smiled. “My hands’re also a weapon.” She lifted a foot clad in a very heavy looking boot. “So’s this.” 

Haseul lowered her hands. “You win.” 

Hyunjin laughed. “You need to stop with this tough act. It didn’t work when we caught you, it won’t work at all now either.” 

“It didn’t work when you caught me, because you set me up.” 

“We had good timing,” Heejin corrected. She was holding a case, one she put in front of Haseul. 

Haseul looked at it. 

“First part of the job.” Heejin gave her a smile. It was almost more threatening than Hyunjin’s glare. “Research.” 

She opened it, revealing two thick piles of paper. Some of it was handwritten, in a scrawl only a scientist could manage. 

“These aren’t on any computers, because, well,” Heejin gave her a pointed look, “certain people could gain access to it.” 

Haseul just smiled back at her. “This’s from Artemis, isn’t it?”

Heejin frowned. “How do you know that?” 

“The paper,” Haseul lifted a sheet, “and ink that’s got a little metal in it.” Then she grinned. “But thanks for confirming where your top secret operation was done.” She moved one of the stacks out of the case and flipped through the first few pages. “Jung Jinsoul really is a remarkable woman, isn’t she?” 

She almost laughed at how the other two froze. 

Then she looked back to the pages. There were two other bits of writing she didn’t recognise. It was all dated, the earliest being ten years ago, with a rudimentary plan for emergency preservations in the case of an accident. The latest was two years ago, right at the bottom of the second pile of papers. That one described the procedure for transferring cells that aged properly. It hadn’t been written by Jinsoul, because the writing was actually neat. 

“You missed something.” Hyunjin tapped the case. She was fighting a smile. 

Haseul looked, only to find that there was a sticky note. 

“She still uses those?” She peeled it off the bottom of the case. 

_To whoever is going through my team’s notes (sorted, by the way, this is far from everything)._

_If you rip any one of these papers, or my computers pick up on the information being sent through space, I’ll send a cybernetic shark after you. They’ve already made the trip between Kepler and Artemis. Don’t push your luck._

Haseul put the sticky note back down. “How’d you manage to convince her to hand them over?” 

“Vivi’s likeable,” Heejin replied. “And persuasive.” She sat down across from her. “Want anything while you go through that? Water? Something stronger? A snack?” 

“Both?” Haseul flicked through until she got to something on the brain. Jinsoul wasn’t a neuroscientist, but a biologist. She knew things about the body that Haseul could only dream of, which was how Viian still had scar tissue and working blood vessels. “Vivi?” 

“Not a name you’ll ever use in your lifetime,” Hyunjin said. 

“So,” Heejin turned back, “what’ll it be?” 

“Tea,” Haseul replied. “And something sweet, maybe cereal, or whatever the royalty eat for that.” 

“We have cereal,” Heejin nodded at Hyunjin, “so get her that and a pot of black tea.” 

Hyunjin’s expression soured, but she left. 

Haseul stared at Heejin. “Are you secretly related to the queen or something?” 

Heejin smiled. “Hyun’s used to me being like that,” she replied. “And she usually repays the favour.” 

Haseul was suddenly grateful for her unbearable experiences in Eden, spent watching two pairs narrowly avoiding each other on their respective orbits. She knew the signs. 

And that was exactly the case here. Wonderful. 

“Vivi said you’d recognise this stuff,” Heejin said, peering at one page, before frowning and shaking her head. “And that you’d get back into it pretty quickly.” 

“You didn’t?” Haseul raised a brow. 

“Well,” she stretched her arms above her head, “let’s just say I’m hesitant.” She looked at her out of one eye. “You’ve been out of this field for how long? Eight years?” 

“Nine.” She pulled the oldest papers over to her. They were legitimately the _first_ rudimentary blueprints for reconstructing the circulatory system. Jinsoul had even been trying to think of a way to make a robotic lung. 

Except the queen seemed to breathe normally, so she probably still had her lungs. 

Or Jinsoul had managed to make an equivalent to lungs that weren’t made of steel cylinder, filters, and tubes. 

“And what would you say are the odds that you can get the virus out of her head?” 

Haseul narrowed her eyes. “I can’t exactly tell you that if I don’t even know what kind of virus is in there.” 

“Well,” Heejin folded her hands together, “I can’t get it out without the nerves getting corrupted. Vivi can barely focus on it without her head feeling like it’ll split open.” 

“So your queen is like that,” Haseul said. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say outright that the queen wasn’t fully organic. “And you only have two people on the ship who can even try and fix her? One of which actually being the queen?”

“Now three,” Heejin replied. “If you can do it.” 

“I can do it.” She put away a first little stack of papers. That was all background information, nothing that was actually going to help with knowing how to extract that virus. “I just have to know what I’m actually dealing with.” 

What she knew so far was that it got worse when Viian used whatever control she had on the tech around her. And now Heejin had pretty much told her the virus had gotten into her neurons, which had to mean they were synthetic. Viian was also being blocked from fixing herself. Somehow.

“And for that you also need to know how she works,” Heejin said. “Because enough of her is human that we can’t just repair her if something goes wrong.” 

Haseul frowned and went for the papers from around the accident. She winced when she saw a picture of the queen, covered in wounds, with an arm missing. The rest couldn’t be seen, thankfully.

Heejin took it away in the next moment. “I don’t know why Jinsoul needed to keep that in there,” she shook her head, “we erased all evidence that the explosion had been successful.” She tore it from the paper, before catching Haseul’s eye. “Don’t worry, Jinsoul will know it was me. And she also knows she can’t send a robot after me.” She looked for other papers with pictures of the queen, tearing those away as well. 

Hyunjin came back then. She set the tray down with surprising gentleness. She had a scowl on her face. 

“You say one wrong word,” she muttered, before sitting down beside Heejin. She pulled out a reading tablet. 

“What’re you reading?” Haseul resisted the urge to lean forward. Something like that could be hacked, but all she’d get would be Hyunjin’s reading habits and the database from where she got those books. Haseul didn’t need either of them, even if she was interested if the girl read about blood and gore, or romance. 

“The Art of Silence,” Hyunjin replied. “By Dr. Jo Haseul.” 

Haseul grimaced. “Can we please not use the doctor?” 

Both of them looked at her, one confused, the other surprised. 

“Is this where you tell us the title’s fake?” Heejin asked. 

Haseul shook her head. “It’s very real.” More than eight years of work, going from the academy to the university, and then the lab. 

“Then what’s the matter with it?” Hyunjin raised a brow. “Not proud of it anymore?” 

Haseul wasn’t sure if she liked it when Hyunjin was being inquisitive. It felt like that was Heejin’s job. 

She went through the next papers. They described the extent of Viian’s injuries and how they’d gotten her over there. They’d gotten to her in time to preserve her brain, but her heart had stopped beating. They must’ve already been working closely with the right people, because they’d had the machines necessary to keep the brain supplied with oxygen. At least until they’d reached Jinsoul and her team. 

Haseul kept rereading the bit on the attack. Then she compared it to the aftermath. The explosion had been on Viian’s ship, before it had taken off. Three crew members had been badly injured, two just with burns, but Viian had caught the worst of the blast. The others had been taken to hospital. Viian had been carried off to Artemis. 

The explosion had killed her. She hadn’t been horribly injured, or close to the brink of death, but dead.

“Did you catch them?” Haseul asked. 

Hyunjin and Heejin looked up. They’d been reading together. 

Haseul chuckled. “Am I disturbing you two?”

“I can always take those fingers off you,” Hyunjin said. “Again.” 

Haseul hid her hands behind her back. “Back to my question, did you catch the ones that did it?” 

“The ones who’d actually caused the explosion,” Hyunjin replied. “Not enough from the people who’d organised it.” She looked ashamed. 

She tried not to looked too surprised. Finding criminals in the galaxy was quite the chore, so most petty crimes weren’t even chased after. Even bigger crews weren’t followed if they avoided messing things up completely. Artemis was practically a hub for certain syndicates, while the entire Kepler system was overrun with smugglers, illegal trades, and a few other things. Haseul missed it. 

“I know,” Hyunjin sighed, “the chances that they made the virus are high and we’re working on it.” 

“So I’m the backup plan?” Haseul asked. “You catch them, you probably have the guarantee to get it out. You don’t, you’ll just have to wish I can do it.” 

“And if we find them, Vivi doesn’t have the virus, then I get to do whatever I want to ‘em.” Hyunjin’s eyes hardened. 

Haseul was suddenly glad she just got the annoyed version of Hyunjin. It was easy to forget on the ship what exactly it meant that Hyunjin and Heejin were Viian’s _inner circle_. They oversaw, and probably were responsible for, a lot of what happened in the southern half of Aphrodite. 

Then there was a chime. 

“Would High Lady Jeon please come to the cockpit?” The voice was both childish and deep at the same time. The demon in the cockpit. 

Heejin sighed. “Time to swap.” 

Hyunjin grinned. “Send her over here?” 

Haseul shook her head. “Please don’t. If you want me focused, you’ll keep her _away_ from here.” 

“Alright,” Heejin bowed her head, “she’ll join you for dinner.” Then she was off. 

Hyunjin was still smiling. 

“Oh you’ll love this, huh?” Haseul asked. “Revenge.” 

“Yeojin’ll annoy us both,” she replied. “But it makes it better that you’re crap at hiding it.” 

Haseul gave her a look, before going back to the research. She needed to know what the queen’s brain was even made of. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my biggest hopes for the story is that things are making sense. As I write, I'm trying to make sure the technical stuff isn't too much, but if it's there, I try to make it somewhat logical. However, I'm by no means well-versed in science or the workings of the body, even if a lot of my courses involve it. 
> 
> However, I hope it'll still be a fun read in spite of that. This was a shorter chapter, in part because there's a lot of new information. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I'd love to know your thoughts so far. 
> 
> Also, the characters have all been aged up. For reference, both Haseul and Vivi are in their thirties. See you next chapter. 


	3. Your work

Haseul had never thought the opening of a sliding door could be loud. 

Until Yeojin barrelled in, with heavy boots and a voice to match. 

“Our cyborg queen requests your presence!” 

Hyunjin’s head snapped up. “I told you to stop calling her that.” 

Yeojin shrugged. “She’s fine with it.” She went over to Haseul. “And cyborg’s a better fitting term than android, you know.” She squinted at her. “Unless the neurodoc has a better idea?” 

Haseul actually didn’t mind the name. It was better than using a title she’d dropped. “By definition, she’s an android, because more of her’s synthetic than biological, but I’d say she’s still a cyborg.” 

Yeojin raised a brow. “Why?” 

“Her brain.” Haseul pushed herself to her feet, stretching out her back. “It’s not a computer. Not all of it at least.” She went to the door. “Where am I supposed to go?” 

“I’m the one taking you.” She went over to her. “Heejin wasn’t letting me come while you were working.” 

Haseul sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Yeojin. She was just a lot to handle. She wasn’t even that young, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three, but it would be a stretch to say anything over that. No, Haseul’s grudge came from her spending the entire first day of Haseul’s captivity grilling her first on the fingers she’d built, then about the Earth system, and finally all about Kepler. She was a demon, because she hadn’t hesitated to hold the way Haseul had been caught above her head and practically cackle at the failure. 

And now that she knew it was a setup—and that Yeojin had known it was as well—that made her even worse. 

“I went through your files,” Yeojin said. “You’re kind of a badass.” 

“Kind of?” Haseul repeated. 

She waggled her fingers. “These're cool, whole thing with Eden’s awesome, but you did get caught and you didn’t even try breaking out.” 

Haseul resisted the urge to flick her forehead (it would've been extremely painful). “I’m on a ship made specifically to transport the queen,” she said. “Breaking into it is impossible, and getting out of it isn’t likely either.” 

“Right,” Yeojin nodded, “and even if you’d gotten to the escape pod or your ship, I would’ve gotten you right back.” 

And that was why Haseul had the privilege of meeting this girl: she was apparently one of the best pilots in the Coruscant system. There had to be another reason why Viian would let her be on a ship like this? Protection? A favour? Or had the queen been charmed by the girl’s antics? And what did that say about Viian if she had? 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Haseul muttered. 

Yeojin pressed the code to a door, covering her hand.

“I know how to hack those things, you know,” Haseul told her. “No use hiding the code from me.” She showed off her fingers. She’d checked. Hyunjin had only taken out the cameras and the knives. The rest of the mechanisms were, interestingly enough, still intact. 

Yeojin shrugged. “I’d like to see you try. Twojin made them.” 

“Twojin?” 

She smirked. “You’ve seen the two of them, right? Heejin’s been in love with her since the Academy. Hyunjin’s probably been in love with her, but you can never tell with her.” 

“She is,” Haseul said. “I’ve seen someone like her before, she—” She could’ve kicked herself. 

Yeojin’s brow rose. “Are you the Heejin in this situation?” Her hand was still on the dial. She hadn’t opened the door yet. 

“No,” she groaned, “a friend.” She heard the alarm in her head then. The screaming. “Open the door, please.” 

“Please?” Yeojin repeated. The door slid open. “Didn’t know you had manners.”

“You need to have them to be able to recognise them,” Haseul replied. Then she went in. 

Yeojin didn’t follow. Surprisingly enough. 

The lights had been dimmed. They were a deep orange, not the usual blinding white or warm gold the ship had. 

And then she saw the boxes. At least twenty, either wrapped in grey foil, secured in steel, or the new plastic that Jupiter had developed. 

“I can unpack it if you’d like,” Viian was standing by the far window, “but I know that opening such things makes for most of the fun.” She took her eyes away from the expanses of space behind her. “However, before you get to that, I did think it was the right time for you to see what you’re dealing with.” 

Haseul blinked. “Now?” 

The queen walked over to a chair. There were several wires coiled neatly on the seat. A monitor was on a table beside it. “Now, unless you’re tired.” 

“Tired?” Haseul repeated. “You’re the one with a timebomb, aren’t you?” She regretted the words as soon as she said them. 

“It’s not acting that fast,” Viian replied. “We’ve managed to slow its progress enough.” She sat down.

“How?” 

The queen pressed on electrodes, as well as other bands, all endowed with wires. “We disabled the main network settings and Heejin put in some barriers. I don’t know how any of them work, but I’m still standing, and sane.” She waved at the monitor. “Could you turn it on?” 

Haseul smiled at the way she spoke. “Sure thing, Your Majesty.” She went to the console. It was familiar. She knew which buttons to press. “Is this—“ She gasped when the screen came to life, showing her the data. Then the recreation of the networks. The queen’s neural network. 

“Your work,” Viian said, “but based on other machines that came later.” 

Haseul tried not to think about the last time she’d worked on a machine like this. Hers had been a lot more sophisticated, a lot more capable too. Then again, it hadn’t had the detail this one had. “You improved it?” 

“Hyunjin did. Along with a few others I won’t tell you the name of yet.” 

It didn’t take long to see it. Some of the signals were almost constant. Purely electrical. The rest of the neurons didn’t fire like normal ones did either. 

“How did they do this?” Haseul asked. “Reconstruct it? All of it?” 

“They didn’t have the time for everything,” she said. “Father told everyone I was recovering from the explosion. I didn’t have a public appearance for a year.” A long pause. 

Haseul looked up from the screen. 

Viian’s eyes were on the wall. She looked far away. 

Like before, Haseul realised what all this actually meant. She focused on the computer and looked for what was actually _wrong_. 

She found it. 

“They prioritised my memories, as well as the segments that made up the personality, speech patterns, that sort of thing.” Viian spoke slowly, a bit strained. 

“None of the motor skills then,” Haseul said. 

“Not even breathing.” A small chuckle. It was forced. “That was all programmed.” 

Haseul had seen that. She was also seeing how the virus was being kept from it. Heejin had actually been able to secure it. Except placing barriers and removing the intruder were two very different things. Especially if the intruder had multiplied and spread out. 

No, something else was at risk there. It wasn’t even the things that’d been purely programmed. Those were safe. The virus was going after the things that hadn’t been made from scratch. Viian herself. 

“It runs fine now,” Viian said. “Clearly.” Then she took in a sharp breath. 

“What’s wrong?” Haseul asked. 

“Nothing,” she waved a hand, “have you found it yet?” 

“Yeah.” Haseul shut the machine off. 

She didn’t miss how the queen relaxed. 

“You should’ve had Heejin point that out to me immediately,” Haseul said. “Or told me being on the machine too long would’ve hurt.” 

Viian peeled off everything she’d stuck on. “I know you’d work well under pressure,” she said. “But that wouldn’t exactly make any of this experience better.” She stood up. 

“It probably hurts for a reason though,” she shot back. “What if the exposure drives the virus?”

“It doesn’t,” Viian replied. “It’s sophisticated, but they didn’t manage to make it that wonderful.” She shuddered. “So that at least proves they’re not complete experts.” She walked over to her, giving her a small smile. “It hurts because my mind’s very vulnerable to that specific sort of strain.” 

“You mean the whole controlling computers thing?” 

“Another augmentation my father thought would be good to have,” she said. “It’s useful if I’m out anywhere and want to slowly take in the information of the devices around me.” She shrugged. “But that same improvement is the reason why I have this in the first place.” 

Haseul hadn’t gotten to that yet. Jinsoul and the other two on her team had sometimes let their opinions show. She wondered how many ‘improvements’ had been shot down and how many had been begrudgingly implemented. 

“Whatever’s on your mind right now,” Viian’s smile grew, “you can say it.”

“It might’ve been better to just keep your head simple,” Haseul said. “Did you really need any of those improvements?” 

She laughed slightly. “I won’t answer that.” She went to the boxes. “That machine. It’s more precise than others, yes,” she looked back to Haseul, “but there are ones that can actually use invasive measures, correct?” 

Haseul froze. They couldn’t have known that. Or did Aphrodite’s reach go that far? 

Viian walked back. “Ours is only a sensor. Heejin managed what she did with her own hardware, not this.” She was holding a tablet. “This has been our plan to get the virus out. I had them order what they thought they needed. We asked Jinsoul and she added to the list, but we have little more to go on.” 

Haseul took it. The first thing that came up were plans for a machine that looked like an old full-body scanner from ages past. This was from the Earth system, dated from about twenty years ago. It was used for surgeries, specifically tumours. 

“This won’t be solved by a surgery,” Haseul said. 

“I know.” She moved to the next one. “We’ve compared different machines, ones made in the past, but also very current ones.” She stopped at a diagram from the Kepler system from a year ago. 

It wasn’t for the entire brain, but rather specific regions. For replacement of the cells. With the right cell culture. 

“Wow,” Haseul breathed. 

“Things have come far,” Viian said. “But none have managed what you wrote about. Direct alteration?” 

She felt cold then. “That was hypothetical.” A lie, one she hadn’t needed to tell for a long time. 

“It’s the specific version of what made my mind work in the first place.” Viian took the tablet away. “One that needs its fair share of improvements,” she said carefully. “But it’s the same principle.” 

Haseul shook her head. “Your brain’s built on the principle of copying, recreating the patterns.” She tried to school her features into something calm. “This was changing things. Manipulating them.” _Too much_ , she told herself. “That’s not the right machine for this.” 

Viian frowned at her. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes, I’m sure," she snapped. Her tone was way off. She knew Hyunjin would’ve probably slapped her for it. 

Then Viian put the tablet down again. “It’s here if there’s another machine, or improvements to our one.” She went to the door, before turning to her. 

She wondered then if Viian was going to force her to build it. Then she'd probably have to find a way off of here. Or she'd just comply. 

And destroy her work afterwards. 

“We haven’t tried everything possible,” said the queen. “I haven’t even had this for that long and we don’t think it’ll be deadly for some time. You’d have all the time you need to find a way to get this out. You don’t have to have anything to do with that machine that seems to have frightened you.” 

Haseul focused on her fingers. They were her reminder. 

“I don’t know what happened before, Haseul. I only know some of how my own brain works, but that’s because a good part of it was created _artificially_.” 

Haseul looked up at the sudden emphasis. 

Viian’s gaze softened. “My mind isn’t a brain, not really,” she said. “Cancers can’t grow in it, but viruses can attack it.” 

Haseul swallowed once. “And your point is?” She could practically hear Hyunjin’s threat of using her feet to hammer home the point of respect. 

“You need to treat my brain as if it’s those model networks you’d started with. It’s not a real one, not one made by sodium atoms flying across a cell membrane. It’s pure electricity.” She opened the door. 

A knot in her chest relaxed as she went to it. Still, something was tugging at the back of her mind. 

She paused just outside the room. 

Viian closed it, looking over at her with a raised brow. 

Haseul looked around first to see if there were any stray guards. None. “Did you just tell me you’re like an AI?” 

Viian laughed. “I’m not like one,” she said. “For all intents and purposes, I am one.” She nodded her head at the door. “The code’s 8202018.” 

And then she was walking away. 

Haseul stared after her. The way the queen spoke, it felt wrong. 

And the way she’d spoken about Earth. Haseul actually believed her when she said she didn’t know. If she had known, she’d have probably said it outright. Maybe even tried to guilt trip her. 

Then again, would she have? Haseul felt lightheaded. 

The queen had the technology to make synthetic lifeforms, people who could probably hack anything around them if they wanted to. People who could go from being armoured to normal within minutes. 

But where were they? It’d been years. There could’ve been an army by now. Unless she'd been telling the truth. 

_I’m one of the only working synthetic lifeforms that can live in some parallel to a human._

Haseul felt cold again. That was why it hadn’t sounded right. Viian had a guess about what had happened in the Earth system and that was why she’d emphasised what she had. She didn’t think she was human. 

When she got back to the room, Hyunjin was playing catch with Yeojin. 

“Do you two work?” Haseul asked. 

“We’re on a break,” Hyunjin replied. Then she frowned. “Are you reconsidering?” 

“No.” She went over to the table and kept reading. 

The other two stopped playing catch and sat down. Neither Hyunjin, nor Yeojin said something other than commenting on whatever was going on in the system. 

It was mundane. Completely boring. 

And it was comforting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any confusing bits, do tell. I probably got a tad technical, because the entire android/cyborg idea honestly fascinates me. My favourite thing is honestly to see how science can be integrated into fantasy and science fiction, so I might've ended up going too far? 
> 
> Hopefully not, because I want this to be a fun story. Before that though, I really wanted to establish a bit more on the fact that Haseul's got some experience with this. Not making AI specifically, but she knows her way around the science, as well as the tech. Her own history hasn't been completely revealed yet, but I'll be gradually building towards it. 
> 
> Either way, I hope you're enjoying this. It's definitely a bit of a passion project for me and I'm having a lot of fun writing these characters. Do let me know what you think so far! 
> 
> See you next chapter. 


	4. I think she'll stay

The moment Vivi answered the call, she regretted it. It was her fifth of the day. In addition to the Minatozaki speaker, there was also a minister from Saturn, as well as one of Kepler’s lead diplomats. As far as politics went, Vivi liked the Keplans, tolerated the northern rulers of Aphrodite, and even considered the leader of Artemis a friend. The Minatozakis were far from her enemy, though relations had been strained since the attempted kidnapping of their princess (of which Vivi had had no idea about until a war had almost begun). 

They exchanged pleasantries. Chaeyeon from Earth was starting to be one of her favourite diplomats. Saturn’s Eline wasn’t quite her favourite, but she was a woman who did her job and she was honest. As honest as people like her were. 

And Vivi didn’t have the best hold on honesty when her entire death and resurrection was a secret. 

As usual, Onew was a delight, occasionally asking how his dearest Dahyun was doing and if royalty was treating her well. 

“You and I both know she’s doing splendid,” Chaeyeon replied. 

“And that she hates it,” Onew chuckled, “she’d rather spend a day talking to us than anyone else. And we were the ones who almost arrested her.” 

Vivi watched Eline during the exchange. That Queen Sana had married outside of royalty, or even a woman, hadn’t ever been the problem. Marrying someone who was practically a criminal had had its own controversies. The entire ordeal had been controversial. The northern part of Aphrodite had conspired with some people from the Earth system, organised Sana’s kidnapping. Dahyun had been dragged into escorting Sana and two others back to Earth. Somewhere along that journey and Dahyun’s time on Earth, she’d proven herself to be someone Sana would have on the throne. It was positively romantic. 

And hadn’t resulted in disaster, so Vivi counted that as a win for the couple. 

Eline didn’t frown as Onew praised the Keplan queen. She didn’t echo her agreement, but she didn’t look as if she hated it either. 

And then the entire conversation shifted. 

“Queen Viian,” Eline began. “It has come to my attention that you have Dr. Jo Haseul on your ship.” 

Vivi nearly told her not to use the title. She wondered if Haseul didn’t use it because she was ashamed, or if there was another reason for it. This was also making it less of a secret that Haseul wasn’t _with_ Eden at this moment in time. None of them were in danger, because most people didn’t dare try to combat an Aphroditan ship, let alone the royal vessel. 

So Vivi smiled. “Where’d you hear that?” 

Her lips pursed. The frustration was a good tell for what was to come. “Witness reports say she was on the carrier. Your people arrested her.” 

“Witness reports meaning cameras?” Vivi asked. It was no secret that they spied on one another. It was just a matter of enhancing their barriers. Vivi would have to tell Heejin about the weak spot the Earthers had found. They’d decipher it within the next few weeks. 

No response. Onew and Chaeyeon both looked uncomfortable. 

So Vivi thought it best to keep them in the exchange. “What do Artemis and Earth know about Jo?” 

Onew looked like he was fighting a smile. “Helped make Eden an even better pain in the ass.” 

Vivi laughed slightly. “Careful now, I almost heard respect there.” She could feel the low thrum of the tech. It was adding to the pressure in her head. 

“I met their leader once,” He shrugged. “She didn’t kill me.” 

“So you had a chance to unveil their identities and didn’t?” Chaeyeon asked. She shook her head, muttering something under her breath. Then she straightened, looking Vivi’s way. “One of their ships was spotted around Pluto’s stations.” 

That was interesting. The Plutonians were mainly a stopping point, as well as water shuttlers. Was Eden in need of water? Or some other trade there? 

“I’d have died if I’d have tried to unmask them,” Onew replied. 

That Haseul was the only known member of Eden was a curious case in itself. There were a fair amount of bounties for her in all three systems. 

Except Eline wasn’t one who needed any reward. 

Vivi kept her expression neutral. “If I would have Jo onboard, why would it matter if she’d be persecuted on Aphroditan soil and not Earth?” 

Eline’s eyes twitched. “It wouldn’t,” she said. “But she is still a citizen of Saturn.” 

“Then why has she been erased from that list?” Vivi asked. The pressure was getting worse. 

“What do you think?” 

Haseul had erased herself from the Earth system. The news that had followed ensured she wasn’t perfectly away from the worlds, but they made immediate sightings of her, from facial recognition to audio logs, delay a few precious moments. Then whatever programs Eden had tried their best to block Earth from finding them. 

They usually worked. 

“I wouldn’t know,” Vivi said. Her head was hurting again. “There’s much mystery when it comes to Jo Haseul.” 

Eline didn’t react, but it was enough. Vivi had known there’d a cover up since the news had initially come from Saturn. Earth wanting to have her back was just another example of it. 

Poor Eline was the one responsible for it. She knew less than Vivi about the matter, which meant she only needed to care about getting Haseul back. 

It was unfair, and Vivi almost wished she could help her. 

But that wouldn’t help Haseul, nor would it help Vivi, if she let herself be selfish. 

And then there was the matter of Eden, who very clearly valued Haseul enough not to take one of the many bounties on her head. 

“Is that all for tonight?” Onew yawned, a horribly acted gesture. “I have four angry corporates who’ll be complaining about the lawlessness of our system.” 

“Because it is,” Chaeyeon shot back. 

“I know,” he replied. “But at least my one didn’t have an inclusion with the conspiracy.” He tapped his chin. “In fact, I think we helped solve it.” Then he went off the call. 

“It’s been years,” Chaeyeon muttered. “And they’ll hold it over our heads for decades more.” 

Vivi laughed. “Not to worry, they do the same for us. And they have the wrong hemisphere.” She looked to Eline then. “Jo Haseul will remain in this system.” She turned off the call, along with the rest of the computers.

Then she looked for the nearest chair and sat down. Her mother would berate her for the posture, as well as the groan, but she was alone. At least for a few moments.

She didn’t straighten when the door opened and Heejin walked in. 

“Eden were there for two reasons,” she said. “One was a typical thing for them. They sabotaged a Martian’s weapon’s delivery and took everything but the explosives.” 

“Did they also take the ship?” Vivi asked. 

Heejin grimaced and nodded. “They’ll be pushing their luck.” 

“They’ll be trading it for another Phantom,” she corrected. The Aphroditan combat ships were some of the best in the system. They’d been used to destroy a few Earther ships. One beat up Artemis ship had managed to destroy one with a fair amount of damage to its own hull. 

And there’d been sanctions afterwards, but they hadn’t stopped anyone from trying to get their hands on them. 

Eden had been the most successful, trying to amass something short of a squadron. For what, Vivi still didn’t know, but it wasn’t going to be an invasion. Eden didn’t quite have the political ambitions as other groups did. More likely, they’d be planning larger scale heists. 

“And the second reason?” 

Heejin frowned then. “They dropped someone off.” She looked back at her tablet. “Still a student at Jupiter’s academy. Jihan‘s the name she took on.” She turned it over to show a young girl’s academy picture. From the uniform, she was going to be a chemist. 

“A kidnapping?” She would’ve thought Eden had access to already established scientists. If they’d managed to get Haseul into their ranks. 

“There wasn’t a ransom paid,” Heejin shrugged, “I looked everywhere. Even asked back home and they didn’t spot anything.” 

“Is she in custody now?” 

“Back safely in her dorms now. It looks like she spent her vacation in Eden.” She snorted. “But we’ve blocked Earth from seeing it. They know she was in Aphrodite, but all they know is she was enjoying the sights of our emerald oceans.” 

Vivi nodded, massaging her head again. 

“Is it getting worse?” Heejin walked over, worry apparent. 

“No,” Vivi said. “I mean it, we just might have a bit of trouble with the Earthers for other reasons.” 

“Should we ask for a decoy to be sent over?” 

She shook her head. “They won’t attack. And if they see that we’re trying to keep her away from me, they’ll think I’m afraid they would.” There was also the risk that the ship would be blown up on its way. Vivi wasn’t sure if they wanted Haseul out of the picture, or back in the Earth system. 

“Is she really worth the risk?” Heejin looked cautious, as if worried she was asking exactly the wrong question. 

But it was the right one. 

Vivi nodded. “She seems to think we are as well.”

She frowned. “She’s practically a prisoner. She knows she couldn’t get out.” 

“She could,” Vivi said. “She’s been looking around at the ship. She knows the layout now as well.”

“You know this?” 

“Yeojin saw it,” Vivi couldn’t help but smile, “if she really wanted to, Haseul would be off of this ship and we wouldn’t be able to follow.” Even if Yeojin could outfly her, their controls would probably be momentarily disabled. Haseul would make the ship she used practically untraceable. And then she’d be gone. “She’s staying, because she benefits just as much as I do from her help.”

“And you’re really going to let her have the information to build another body? What if she’s making it for herself? Or all of Eden?” 

“She won’t.” 

Heejin shook her head. “You can’t be putting this much trust in her. She may be genuine now, but that says nothing about her in a few years time.” 

“Saturn was a few years ago,” Vivi countered. “And those beliefs have stayed.” She got to her feet. “Now I need to tell her that Saturn know she’s here. So Kepler, the rest of Aphrodite, and Earth will all suspect so as well.” 

“She’ll run.” 

“She might,” Vivi nodded, “and then we’ll see what else we do.” She took Heejin’s hand and squeezed it. “But I think she’ll stay.” 

“And what about after?” Heejin’s worry was heartwarming. She’d been one of the first people Vivi had admitted her fears and worst thoughts to. That was exactly why she was scared now. 

“Jo Haseul ruined her own life for her beliefs,” she told her. “So I’m trusting that she’d keep this from spreading for those same reasons.” 

Heejin nodded slowly, but she still looked unconvinced. 

“If you realise I’ll be ruining everything, you’d be allowed to stop me.” 

Heejin shook her head. “I trust that you know what you’re doing. We all do.” 

“Thank you.” Vivi smiled at her. “You can slap me if I’m wrong.” Then she opened the door. 

“I will,” she chuckled, “maybe.” 

______

Vivi knocked twice.

Haseul looked up. “Hi.” Her eyes widened. “Come in.” Then she laughed. “Probably don’t need to give you permission there, do I?” 

“You still should.” Vivi walked in. The papers were scattered around the table. “Give a royal an arm, they’ll take the army.”

She looked at her for a long moment. “Was that supposed to be a joke?” 

Vivi smiled. “A bad one.” 

Haseul’s lips broke into a smile. “Is it the crown that did that, or the tech?” 

“Neither.” She gestured to the chair. “May I?” 

“Please don’t be all formal with me,” Haseul said. “It makes me feel even weirder about this.” She waved to the papers. “These notes treat you like a science project, Your Majesty. And you’re the literal queen.” She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s a lot to process.” 

Vivi fought a laugh. “You know,” she sat down, “you can just say it.” 

Haseul looked up, the smallest of frowns appearing. “Say what?” 

“I’m part machine,” she said. “The queen isn’t human, you can say that’s also bizarre. It’s alright.” 

The woman looked at her, brow furrowed, as if she was trying to figure out if Vivi was lying or not. 

“You are,” Haseul said then. 

Vivi couldn’t help but frown. “I am?” 

She laughed, rearranging the papers in front of her. Everything looked disorganised. Jinsoul probably wouldn’t mind it. Jungeun would’ve flipped out seeing it. “Human,” Haseul said. “You’re human.” 

Vivi took the next piece of paper. “Was she right? Was the decision not to augment my processing speed better?” 

Her brow furrowed more. Then she just shrugged. “Actually, a great decision. Having your memory be enhanced was already not the ideal decision, but making your thinking faster would’ve just been idiotic.” 

“Apparently, that’d been quite the argument when they were building me,” Vivi said. “My father wanted everything enhanced, so I’d be even better at ruling the entire half of the planet and wouldn’t need so many advisors.” 

Haseul cringed then. “Did I just insult him?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “but you also agreed with the team that built me.” She patted her own arm. “And if he’d had his way completely, I probably wouldn’t have had a sense of humour at all.” 

Haseul hummed once, before getting to her feet. Vivi watched as she went to the opposite table and picked up another sheet. 

“I mean, whoever worked on it, they managed to get the short-term memory to four times what you had before.” Haseul let out a surprised laugh. “If they’d let you process things even more, it’d probably have been way too much.” 

“How so?” 

“Here.” Haseul slid her the papers. “This one’s from three years ago. Whoever made it was going between all the sources. I didn’t even know memory had come that far.” She was grinning. 

Vivi nodded. “Soul’s been focusing completely on this. Her team’s one of the best in the system, probably all three.” 

“I’ll say,” Haseul muttered. “Probably with the best access to papers, huh?” She waved them around. “I’m seeing stuff from a Keplan research crew.” 

Vivi couldn’t help but feel relieved. Haseul was exactly who she’d thought she was, and more. She might’ve stopped contributing directly to science, but she hadn’t detached herself completely either. 

“That’s how you repaid them, huh?” Haseul took a long drink from her cup. “Shuttled over the right research?” 

“Everything available,” Vivi replied. 

“Available?” Haseul repeated. “Or accessible?” 

She sat back, wondering if she should say that or not. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Haseul shrugged, “scientific integrity kinda stopped happening since we got off Earth.” 

“It’d depend on where we are in the galaxy, wouldn’t it?” 

Haseul shook her head. “Earth’s not pardoned from that, not even with how hard the Minatozaki’s try to keep it under control.” She frowned then. “I can’t tell you how many times we got some classified intel from Kepler, even Coruscant if we were lucky.” 

Vivi rested her elbows on the table. “Are you sure you’re supposed to be telling me this? 

The corner of her lip tilted upwards. “Are you sure I’m supposed to be seeing how far Aphrodite’s reach goes for?” 

“And being told one of the best kept secrets in the universe?” 

“True,” Haseul laughed, “I thought my first secret was a big one, but this.” She shook her head. “Well, I don’t know where I’ll go from here.” There was a hint of caution in her eyes then. A question too.

“Home,” Vivi said. Then she realised how that probably sounded. “Eden, I mean, not Earth.” 

Haseul smiled. “Earth stopped being my home a while ago.” She dropped her eyes back to the papers, reading over. 

It wasn’t exactly subtle, but also not completely obvious either. Still, this was something the woman wanted to drop. 

So Vivi dropped it. She still needed to tell her that Earth was very clearly after her, but she’d wait a few minutes until then. 

“Do you have any questions yet?” Vivi asked. “I understand about half of what happened to me, but,” she pointed at her arm, “I can leave you this if you needed to see how the nerves work.”

“Nerves?” Haseul repeated, eyes lighting up. “Not sensors?” 

“I’ve got blood too,” she replied. “And a working heart. Even a lymph system.” 

Her eyes were now bugging out of her head. “An immune system?” 

Vivi stifled a laugh at the pure shock on her face. “I got a terrible bout of food poisoning last year.” 

“Oh my god,” Haseul rested her head on the table, “this’s just theoretical!” She practically lunged for a paper on the floor. “Eight years ago, Jinsoul was _speculating_.” 

“I know,” Vivi nodded, “she’s incredible. So's her team.” 

“Her team,” she looked up at her, “you like ‘em, huh? Only because they got you this way?” The look in her eyes was a bit too nonchalant. 

“You’re not going to find out who they are that way.” Vivi smiled. She glanced at the papers. “Unless you recognise that handwriting too?”

Haseul shook her head. Then she chuckled. “Those two tell you everything that happens here, don’t they?” 

“Just about,” she nodded, “and Yeojin follows a great deal of it too.” She didn’t miss how Haseul’s mouth twitched upwards at that. “Stopped finding her intolerable?”

“She’s still really annoying,” Haseul replied. “But she’s less terrible, I’ll give her that.” She pointed at the ceiling. “Did she just hear that?” 

Vivi shook her head. “This room’s clean.” It was devoid of computers, so all she felt was the general thrum of the ship and those of the wires. Everything she’d managed to keep from hurting her. Her head was still sore from the call, but this room was a relief from it. “There’s a few I’ve left empty.” 

Something flickered across her expression then. “Oh.” 

“Earth, Saturn, and Kepler know you were on the craft,” Vivi said. “And they know you’re here.” 

Haseul’s eyes widened. “What?” 

“They managed to get access to the surveillance cameras,” she replied. “I don’t know how, but everyone seems to have their hackers, so I’m not surprised. Neither should you.” 

“Did you tell them I was?” 

“I got a pointed question during a call with a Minatozaki speaker, Keplan diplomat, and one of Saturn’s ministers.” 

Haseul’s frown slowly relaxed. “And I’m a little too valuable for them to believe you if you denied it, huh?”

Vivi smiled. “You hold yourself in high regard.” 

“I mean,” she shrugged, “it’s true, isn’t it?” 

“I’m not answering that.” 

Haseul grinned. “Okay, so what now? Are the cannons turned our way yet?” 

“Would they risk a war for you?” Vivi asked. “And I’d have thought they’d want you alive.” 

She shrugged again. “Honestly, I don’t think they know what they want with me. At least they haven’t agreed.” 

Vivi wanted to ask why that was, but she knew full well it was more than a sore spot for the woman. 

“To answer your question,” Vivi got to her feet, “our actual destination is Artemis, not Aphrodite.” 

Haseul’s brow shot up. “Why?” 

“You’re not the only one working on this.” She tapped her head. 

She narrowed her eyes, looking at the papers. “I thought I wasn’t supposed to know who else was involved with this.” 

“They’re not the biggest secret,” Vivi replied. “You already got that.” 

Haseul looked more confused than anything. 

“And you have the information here, but you might have a better time actually getting the answers you want straight from Jinsoul and the rest.” 

“Who are,” Haseul trailed off. The confusion faded, replaced by a bit of curiosity. 

She laughed slightly. “Not so fast.”

Haseul’s smile was sheepish. “Guess I got too eager there, huh?” 

Vivi was by the door. “A bit.” She made to leave. 

“Uh, Your Maj—I mean, Viian?” 

She turned her head. 

Haseul had half gotten out of her chair. “Do you have any idea who would’ve known about you?” She gestured to the papers. “If this was kept off the tech this entire time, then,” she trailed off. “You know what I mean?” She looked worried, as if she was saying something out of line again. 

Which she was, in a way, by suggesting there was a traitor in court. 

Except that was one of the explanations for it. 

“Yes,” Vivi nodded, “but as much as we tried to keep the materials as unassuming as possible, there’s also the chance someone picked it up through detectors.” She waved at the room. “Somewhere here is a log from six years ago. One of them realised that if they needed secrecy, they’d have to work on the ratios of material used to avoid sensors, You’ll see that somewhere.” She shrugged. “We’ve been looking for sensors that _could_ sense my circuits, but haven’t had any luck. If you know of one, that might be helpful.” 

Haseul shook her head. “I don’t, but it wouldn’t be impossible to find out.” 

Vivi couldn’t help but smile at that. “I’m not as concerned about finding them, as I am about fixing this without them.” 

“Same here,” she ran a hand through her hair, “because I think I’m figuring out a way how.” She chewed on her lip. “I can use that tech in the other room, right?” 

Vivi tried not to show how relieved she was. Haseul was probably not going to make the machine from her research before. 

“Of course you can.”

Before she could leave, Haseul spoke again. “Does having me here make, you know, the whole Earth–Coruscant thing a little complicated again?” 

“It probably will,” Vivi nodded, “but intergalactic relations are what I’m hopefully an expert in. I’ll handle that, but either I or Heejin will likely tell you if things might go to shit.” 

A burst of laughter. 

“Never heard royalty curse?” 

“Never met royalty.” Haseul was still chuckling. “I know people who know Queen Dahyun, but none of that was exactly legal.” 

Vivi shrugged. “I’ve had to be flexible with that sort of thing,” she said. “And Dahyun’s not too bad, especially when we made the proper distinction that it was the north who’d been plotting and not us.” Then she finally stepped out the door. “If you need me, I’ll be asleep.” She heard Haseul stifle another laugh as she left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a fair amount of callback to that other story of mine, but I'll stress again that you do not need to read it. 
> 
> This story is honestly so much fun for me to write and I love writing these two characters. I'm being sligthly vague with Haseul's past here and there, but it will be properly explained later on. I just want to leave it, as well as Eden, in a bit more mystery for now. 
> 
> If you have any questions, feel free to ask them, or just let me know what you think! I hope you're all doing well. 
> 
> See you next chapter. 


	5. Room for error

It was nice working on something again. That something wasn’t security measures or some unlucky diplomat’s private servers, but something she was actually building. It also wasn’t based on the absolute fear of losing someone, as it had been a few months ago. 

No, this was based on the simple task of saving the queen. 

And Haseul actually loved it. 

The tech they’d ordered was some of the best quality she’d seen. Some of it was stuff she’d only ever dreamed of having a few years ago. It was also everything she’d need to transfer a consciousness _back_ from the ship and into a body. 

If the machine worked, the virus would be a simple problem. At least she hoped so. 

And Haseul hoped desperately that she’d be able to take something away from this, be it the contacts they’d used to order this stuff, or the stuff itself. 

First, she’d have to be able to get _off_ this ship. She didn’t want to completely believe that Vivi would have her killed or imprisoned after all this, but she had to be ready for it. 

A part of her really debated getting off the ship. Even with what she’d told Yeojin, there was a very real chance that she’d be able to escape without getting blown up or dragged back. She was essentially free on the ship and could go anywhere. Even the places she wasn’t ‘allowed’ to go, she could get there. That included the cockpit. 

What held her back from trying was the sneaking suspicion that Vivi knew that, but was still giving her everything she wanted. She wasn’t exactly hiding that much. It was almost as if she trusted her. 

“Busy enough to need silence? Or can I come in?”

Haseul looked up only to see Hyunjin at the door. She’d forgone the royal finery she usually insisted on wearing. Instead, it was a simple dress of deep blue. Of all the things she’d expected Hyunjin to wear, a dress hadn’t been one of them. 

“I work surrounded by people who never shut up,” Haseul replied. “You’re peaceful in comparison.” 

Hyunjin made a small sound of indignation. “I’m not sure being compared to Eden’s employees is something to be flattered by.” 

She laughed. “Just like a compliment from a space rascal isn’t that flattering?” 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. “ _I’m_ a space rascal, thank you very much.”

Haseul stared at her. 

“What?” She frowned at her. “Didn’t read my file yet?” 

“I didn’t look.” 

Hyunjin’s brow shot up. “But it’s easy. You have access to the databases with all of us.” 

Haseul shrugged. “You actually want me to know your life story?” 

“We know who you are,” Hyunjin replied. “I thought you would’ve gone ahead and evened out the playing field.” 

“I barely even know how you got some of the info you have on me,” Haseul turned her attention back to the project, “I thought I took care of it all.” 

“Aphrodite knew about you,” she said casually, as if knowing about the life Haseul had tried to erase was normal. “And you didn’t erase our database.”

“I’m good,” Haseul grumbled, “and I wasn’t bad then, but I couldn’t exactly hack into another system.” She didn’t really have to care about it now. People knew who she was anyway. The news had made sure of that. 

Hyunjin dragged over a chair and sat down. “You could’ve. Especially once you and Eden got here.” 

Haseul waved a hand. “Wasn’t exactly important at that point.” 

She raised a brow. “You’d say that knowing that the rest of us know your story?”

“You know some,” Haseul corrected. “And I don’t care if you know how bad I was in physics or even that you know where I was born.” Not even if they knew about her parents, or lack thereof. 

“What about how you sabotaged a professor?”

“I didn’t sabotage him.” Haseul hadn’t really faced a lot of consequences for that. Especially when she went to Saturn. 

“You made sure the lectures didn’t work for a month, but always at a random time, so he wouldn’t be able to prepare for it.”

“They were useless anyway. Nobody cares about how space travel’s supposed to work when we’ve already colonised literal planets.” 

Hyunjin chuckled. “I enjoyed that class.” 

“And where was that?” Haseul raised a brow. “North, south, the mountains? A beach-side academy?”

“One of the moons,” she replied. “Back then being planet-side wasn’t something I was authorised for. Yet.” 

It took a few seconds to process. 

“They let you to work in government?” Haseul asked. Even within Earth, the appointment of someone from the moon to assist the royal family was frowned upon. “And they actually trusted you?” 

Hyunjin smiled. “You can be born on the planet, in that country, and still be a treacherous bitch if you wanted to be.” 

“Great.” Haseul leaned back on her elbows. “So you passed a test?” 

“I’m great at what I do,” she replied. 

“I barely even know what you do here, unless it’s being intimidating and messing with my stuff.” Haseul lifted her hands. 

Hyunjin just gave her a look. “As if I’d let you keep your knives?”

Haseul kicked the bottom of her chair. “As if I’d use them!”

Hyunjin laughed. “Well, you never know. Knives’re also great for sabotaging electrical lines. You know,” she shrugged, “old school.” 

“Ancient, you mean,” she gave her a look, “who do you take me for? I’m barely a passable engineer.”

Hyunjin’s eyes went to the tech around them. 

“That doesn’t count.” Haseul moved on to the next part. “This’s simple stuff.”

“Simple,” she repeated. “The people who followed in your footsteps would disagree.” 

Haseul shrugged. “Well, I was great at what I did.” 

Hyunjin frowned. “You still are, though.” 

She shook her head. “Everything’s moved on so much. I have to read and reread the notes on this stuff.” She glanced at the papers she’d scattered across the ground. “Whoever did this part of the work, I’d give them the world.” It was meticulous, even if this person was full of little bits of commentary for each research paper and new tech. She got the feeling that this person was self-taught for a lot of it, because they kept talking about trying something out themselves and adding in “whatever” to the plans. They talked about failed prototypes as much as they did successes. 

“Wait ’til you meet her.” Hyunjin chuckled. 

Haseul grabbed the glass of water and took a sip. 

Hyunjin was looking at the scattered parts. “How do you work like this?” 

“I know where everything is,” Haseul replied. “And it’s organised.” 

“Really,” she picked up two papers, “page three and nine belong to each other?” 

“They give you the number twelve,” Haseul shrugged, “and they’re both on upgrades whoever this is made to my first machine.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Made it better than anything I’d have made at the time.” 

To her surprise, Hyunjin grinned. 

Haseul blinked. “Woah, I say something right?”

“You’re still so into this,” Hyunjin said. “And it’s been eight years, huh?” 

The thought hurt a little bit more than usual. “Yeah.” 

Hyunjin nodded once. She didn’t say anything else, but she looked like she was thinking about it. 

Haseul decided to take that moment to stand up and stretch. Her back was aching, but she was used to that. Even Eden let her not move from her spot for days on end if she wanted to. Her back muscles weren’t exactly all that great, but at least she didn’t slouch. 

“You can ask us questions, you know,” Hyunjin said. “I can tell you're tempted every time we mention something.” 

Haseul shrugged. “Are we on that level yet?”

“If this works, you’ll have saved the queen,” she replied, a perfectly straight face. “So I’d say we’re not on the worst level. Unless you mess something up.” 

“And after that?” Haseul tried to phrase it carefully. She didn’t know if she’d be ruining this new piece of peace with Hyunjin. She usually ended up souring it by saying something. Even if it was fun, she actually preferred being on Hyunjin’s good side. 

“After?” Hyunjin repeated, looking a bit confused. “You get to making that body of yours.” 

“Seriously?” Haseul asked. “And you can be honest with me. I’m already pretty far with this.” She nodded at her own notes on the far end. They’d given her a desk with an _extremely_ comfortable desk and she’d managed to make a semi decent blueprint. If they got rid of her now, they’d probably still be able to build it. 

She looked at her for a long moment. “I know you’re expendable at this point.” 

Haseul didn’t even try to hide her unease. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t say it like that.” She touched a hand to her heart. “It hurts me.” 

Hyunjin glared at her. “But nothing’s going to happen that we haven’t promised you,” she said. “The queen keeps her word.” 

“But it’s not just the queen at stake,” Haseul countered. “I’m a wanted woman. It comes out that you had me and let me go—”

Hyunjin scoffed. “You actually think she’d turn on you after this?”

Haseul blinked. “That’s sort of what you do when you don’t want a secret coming out. Risk management and all that. Don’t they have a course at the academy for that?” 

She raised a brow. “Do you even know which academy you’re taking about?” 

“Nope,” Haseul brought the next piece into place, “Aphrodite’s huge and there’s a lot of moons too. I can’t be bothered to know which one’s which.” 

“I went to two,” she said. “First one’s where I learned how shitty Aphrodite actually is. Second one’s where I learned how to deal with it.”

“I’m guessing the second one was on Aphrodite?” 

Hyunjin nodded. “Heejin and me went to the same one.”

Haseul frowned. “So let me get this straight. You were on the moon because you weren’t allowed to be on the planet. Then you got authorisation and _then_ you’re working for the queen?” 

“Told you,” she smirked, “I’m good at what I do.” 

“Great,” Haseul said. “Was that a class too?”

“Being great?” Hyunjin raised a brow. “I was born with it.” 

Haseul wondered if she was serious about being able to ask her, but she’d give it a go. “And where was that?”

“Artemis,” she said immediately. “If anyone’s a space rat outta the two of us, it’s me.” 

“Except one of us is basically royalty, and I’m the one with a bounty on my head.” 

“But,” Hyunjin raised a hand, “you’re a lunar baby.”

Haseul gave her a look. “You really wanna make this a competition?” 

“No,” she said. “You’d probably win that one once we got to the last ten years.” 

Haseul was stunned for a second. Then she laughed. 

In the back of her mind, she wondered how Aphrodite could even allow that. 

“Why’d you start comparing lives then?” Haseul took a few deep breaths. “If you knew all that.”

Hyunjin shrugged. “It was fun.” 

“And how wasn’t that hated by everyone?” Haseul asked. “There’s barely a word about an Artemis kid being taught planet-based, let alone one in the royal court.” Then she frowned. “This's another secret?”

Hyunjin shook her head. “They know, and I know a lot don’t like it, but they can’t really say much anymore.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, her eyes practically glittering. “Because I’m already here.”

“So what you’re saying is,” she started, “they kept it a secret until it was too late to try and get you out of it?”

“That’s right.” She raised a brow. “Now would you say that’s a bad thing or not?”

“But they knew you were around, right? That you existed?”

Hyunjin rolled her eyes. “Of course they did.”

Haseul raised her hands. “Not always. Some people can fly way under the radar if they want.” 

“I didn’t,” she said. “We just weren’t so obvious about where I was born.” 

Haseul started on building the computer. She’d actually wanted to save that for later, but it was easy and she could just focus on actually talking to Hyunjin. She’d already been a mystery before, but now there was something else to it. 

“So on that note,” Hyunjin leaned forward, “were you actually born on the moon or did someone manage to hide that stuff on you?”

Haseul chuckled. “I was born on the moon. Most of what you have is probably true, even the part on the professor.” 

“And then the rest is rumours,” she finished. 

Haseul nodded, a weight settling on her chest. “Exactly.”

Hyunjin’s expression softened a bit. She got to her feet. “Want anything? Another tea? Something to eat? I’m not making you a thing.” 

She smiled. “A sandwich’d be great.” 

Hyunjin’s brow twitched, but she didn’t look annoyed. “I’ll see what I find.”

_____

Even though they hadn’t given her a deadline, Haseul knew things were getting worse. 

Vivi was pretty good at hiding it, but Haseul had spotted how she’d flinched when the machine had connected to power for the first time. The queen was essentially logged on to the ship. In theory, she’d be able to open any of the doors without a code, tap into the cameras herself, and even steer the ship if she wanted to. 

Except all that just made irritated her brain, with the virus leaping to interfere with whatever parts of her mind were able to connect to the devices. 

It was an incredible idea, but letting Vivi’s mind connect to other devices had also made it vulnerable to whatever attack on her had been planned. 

Because it had to have been planned. Haseul couldn’t help but wonder if there was someone on the research team who’d have leaked the secret, or someone in Vivi’s father’s court who’d turned. 

Or maybe even the people who’d planned the assassination in the first place. 

Haseul never thought about it long, mostly because it wasn’t what she was here for. The other reason was because she just didn’t understand enough about Aphrodite and whether or not any of the royals had had a lapse in judgement. She also didn’t raise the subject with anyone, because she knew they’d already thought about it. 

They also all skirted around the subject if anyone came too close to it. Even Yeojin, who Haseul would’ve expected to be loud-mouthed about it and ready to engage in a little bit of gossip, hadn’t said a word about who she thought did it. 

It meant they either really didn’t know, or had their suspicions. If it was the latter, that information was apparently even more classified than the queen having almost had a successful assassination. Somehow. 

The inner circle still talked to her in spite of that. Two weeks in and they’d all figured out that Haseul didn’t mind talking while she worked. Most of the conversations had been harmless, asking her about how she’d actually gotten to neuroscience or about what Earth was like. Even Vivi had only been there once, and she’d barely seen the rest of the planet, something Haseul still found bizarre. 

They didn’t ask much about Eden, or why Haseul’s job had ended. Haseul both appreciated it and wondered when curiosity would get the best of them. She was pretty sure they wanted her to keep trusting them, so they avoided touchy topics. 

She’d learned that Heejin was essentially the spymaster for southern Aphrodite. Hyunjin both worked for her and other branches of the government. Yeojin wasn’t just a pilot, but she was a runaway from a now disgraced aerospace family from Hermes’ main moon. From what Haseul could gather, it wasn’t for anything terrible. It’d been some political manoeuvring that’d practically dragged the family into ruin. 

So Yeojin had managed to get to Aphrodite and enroll in one of the few academies where her name didn’t mean much. 

Yeojin hadn’t been working for Vivi at the time of the assassination attempt, so she’d only really known her afterwards. Maybe that was why Vivi liked her so much and why the other two put up with her. 

“We’ll be reaching Artemis by morning.” Vivi was at the door. “I suppose we got you everything you needed?” 

“And more.” Haseul grinned. 

Vivi smiled and walked to the chair everyone had decided was the seat for the guest of honour. At least for the hour they sat in. 

“I’m here to ask for a small favour.” The queen crossed her legs once she sat down. As always, she sat perfectly straight. 

Haseul braced herself. She hadn’t gotten any more reasons to doubt the queen, only more to trust her. Still, she couldn’t help but worry. You always had to be careful around something, or someone, who had as much power as she did. 

“Take a break,” Vivi said. “You’re barely in your own accommodations anyway.” The corner of her lip tugged up. “And I know for a fact that we’ve got some of the most comfortable ships in the galaxy.” Her eyes were shining. When Haseul had seen one of her eyes glow, it’d actually been glowing. She’d been connected to the ship and hadn’t turned the light off in her eye. Probably for special effect. 

“I know,” Haseul laughed slightly, “Yeojin never wants to leave this ship.” 

“She would if I finally gifted her a Phantom.” Haseul shook her head. “Not until she’s thirty.” 

Vivi laughed. “I was thinking thirty-five.” Then she nodded at the three devices that were in the making. “Are they variations of the same thing? Or do they have different functions?”

Haseul pointed at the left one. “That’s what I’ll be using to get an even better sense of the networks you put in place, because some of ‘em changed since they were put in place.” Then the middle one. “I don’t know what’ll happen, so I need to leave room for the virus taking more with it than we want it to.”

“So you’ll be copying my head onto it?” Vivi eyed it. “That won’t make a separate consciousness, will it?” 

She shook her head. “It’s information. Like how yours was managed in the first place, but in that machine, it’ll all just be what you have now, but not working.” She almost debated not continuing, but thought better of it. “I did that for a crewmate, the one who’s tied to the ship right now.” 

Vivi turned her attention back to her. Concern flickered in her eyes, as well as a question. She didn’t ask it. 

Haseul had already brought it up. She hadn’t needed to and Vivi probably wouldn’t have pried. 

Except it was also one of the reasons she was here in the first place. If Vivi was serious in letting Haseul use what she’d learned, then she needed to tell her what she was going to use it for. 

At least she felt like she had too. 

“We got away too late from a job,” Haseul said. “The bastards had some good ships, one with a cannon good enough for even a Phantom.” She shuddered, remembering the pure dread she’d felt when they’d watched the beam start up. Jiwoo had tried to move, but they’d anticipated that. The blast had torn through their main engine. “She’d gone to free the debris from the ones we’d had blocked. Someone else had gotten the shields working, so it should’ve been fine.” 

Vivi’s brow had furrowed. There wasn’t pity in her eyes, but understanding. Of course there was. 

“And that’s when it’d exploded,” she sighed, “the only reason she didn’t die immediately was because some of it’d already detonated.” She grit her teeth. “Guess that’s the downside and upside of having almost indestructible fuel cells.” It had been one single fuel cell with a leak. 

“Where did that leave her then?” Vivi asked. “Only with time enough to let her mind be transferred?” 

“She’s still alive,” Haseul said. “On life support for her heart, one of us stole a dialysis machine and just about everything to keep her body from shutting down.” 

“So that’s how you had enough time to link her to the ship?” 

She just nodded. 

Vivi reached out and squeezed her arm lightly. “You’ll have more to work with than they did, luckily enough,” she said. “I can’t guarantee they’ll let you have the machines, but Jinsoul was willing to let you see the steps for all of it.” 

“If it’s a price or a favour we have to repay,” Haseul shrugged, “then we’ll handle that too.” 

“Technically, you won’t need to owe them.” Vivi chuckled. “I’d guarantee that you can be trusted with it completely. And then I’ll have a hard time denying them a free dinner and parts.” 

“Is that where the taxes go?” Haseul raised a brow. 

“I beg your pardon,” Vivi lightly shoved her, “I’ve made my own investments and have my own profits outside of tax.” She fixed her with a stern gaze. “All before my robotic brain came into the picture, so all that drove me was human judgement and potential corruption.” 

She couldn’t help but smile at that. Still, the ‘robotic brain’ part rubbed her the wrong way. More than the corruption, funnily enough. Maybe that was because she was still part of what most people called a crime syndicate. 

“I’m sure,” Haseul said. “But you also didn’t boost your intelligence, so I’m not sure if that’d have made a difference.”

The queen eyed her. Had Haseul not known that she was more than a bit of a softie, she would’ve been intimidated. 

But unfortunately for the queen, and fortunately for the rest of them, Haseul had spotted Vivi in the kitchen baking with Heejin. 

It didn’t score many points for either of them on the intimidation side. 

“Was that a jab at my intelligence or a compliment?” 

“Whatever you want it to mean, Your Majesty.” For good measure, Haseul added a very exaggerated wink. 

Vivi’s eyes formed crescents as she smiled. Haseul had known the queen of Aphrodite was beautiful (it was almost a requirement, unless you wanted to be the brunt of some very unfair jokes, which had happened in the past), but she looked even better than the pictures now. 

“It takes more than that to charm me, Ms. Jo.”

Haseul almost said something else, but she held it back. Flirting with a queen wasn’t quite the best course of action. Even if she was stunning and quite frankly someone Haseul wanted to know a lot more about.

“And the third?” Vivi then pointed at the right machine. It would connect to an operating table, because Haseul knew from the notes that they had one. 

“I’ll have to actually get in your head,” Haseul grimaced, “we have to be ready to replace a neuron if we can’t remove the virus virtually. With all that, I think I can make it work.” She looked at what she’d built so far. “It’s just taking a while.” They were all skeletons of what they could be. Prototypes too, because she didn’t trust the first version of any machine she made. 

“We have the time,” she told her. 

“But it’s getting worse.” Haseul met her eyes. “You’re spending more time in those rooms than you did last week.” 

Vivi’s brow rose. “You’ve been watching?”

“Didn't you tell me I haven't been in my rooms enough?” She pointed at the door. “I just checked the other logs. I was surprised that Yeojin doesn’t sneak out more often.” 

“She used to,” Vivi replied. “But now you’re the one who does most of that.” 

Haseul blushed. “Maybe.” 

“It’s alright. You hadn’t seen the layout before,” she let out a particular long sigh, “I’m sorry we put you in a cell for two days.”

Haseul shrugged. “It was a nice cell.” 

“Still,” Vivi shook her head, “the first day was because Hyunjin and Heejin were trying to convince me to send you out on a ship back too Eden. The second day was to let Heejin do an one last extensive background check.” 

“And you still went through with it?” she asked, feeling a bit self-conscious. What exactly did an _extensive_ background check mean? Did they dig into Eden to see what she’d done there? Did they look for eye-witnesses? And had they been doing that ever since the virus made itself known? 

“With you?” Vivi smiled slightly. “I had a good feeling about you, even if the actions I base this on are a few years old.”

Haseul looked at her. “What?”

Her smile faded. “All I know from your time in Saturn is that you erased your work from everywhere you could and that whatever it was, you destroyed it as well.” She looked down at her hands then, one finger tracing a scar that went from the thumb to the wrist. “We couldn’t even do that.” 

“If you’d have destroyed this,” Haseul pointed at the papers documenting years of work, “all I’m doing now would’ve been delayed and that’s time I’m not sure you can afford.”

“Maybe.” Vivi’s gaze was distant. “But with you, it’ll be the first time we share this knowledge.”

Immediately, Haseul felt terrified that the queen was going to reconsider. 

“You’ll have it,” Vivi said then, her voice a bit firmer. “It wouldn’t be fair for you to see what I am and then have to return to your people, not allowed to even try and give her another life.” Her jaw tightened. “If I can make that endeavour easier, then I will.” 

Haseul suddenly wondered if Vivi actually knew everything about her role in Eden. She’d probably committed a few crimes that the Southern Hemisphere would love to charge her for. 

“I’m not sure if destroying this would be a good idea though, outside of this whole thing too,” Haseul said. “It makes it easier for people to figure out where things might’ve gone wrong if there’s a problem.” Then she thought of the people who’d actually made those notes. “And you’d break at least three people’s hearts.” Hers was still broken. 

“It’s a slightly bigger team,” Vivi said. “I’d break many hearts.” She frowned. “But it is something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.” Something shifted and she looked tired. “You have your fingers, others have false hearts, synthetic nerves to regain the ability to walk,” she trailed off. “And I have an entire body I can barely say is real.” 

“You’re not the only one,” Haseul replied. She wondered if her being there was even helpful. 

“You’ve seen their research, the procedure,” she shook her head, “we went back and forth on whether or not to destroy it. My father had wanted to, _I’d_ wanted to, but Jinsoul had begged both of us to reconsider.” 

“Why?” Haseul knew what it took to destroy that. She knew it was painful, but had Jinsoul refused for that reason? Or something else?

“As you said, mostly in case problems came up.” Vivi’s hand brushed her temple, tracing a scar there. “But also in the hope that we might reconsider. That I might reconsider.” 

“And tell people what happened?” She could barely imagine the reaction if the galaxy, let alone Aphrodite, found out about Viian. 

Vivi shook her head. “Not what I am, but the means with how one _could_ create a second body, with working organs, and all that.” Then she sighed. “But that also means giving everyone with the means, specifically money, to cheat death.” 

“There’s a lot of room for error,” Haseul said. “What Jinsoul’s team pulled off, there’s only a handful of people in all three systems who could do that.” 

“But for the right price,” Vivi looked at her, “and matching tenacity, you’d have people like me all over space within a few decades. People who wouldn’t age, wouldn’t get sick, and people who’d let their minds be augmented even more.” Her eyes flickered with unease. “What would you do, if the people you hated, or the ones you feared, never went away?” 

She immediately had an answer, but it was in bad taste on all levels. “I can’t answer that.”

“There’d be ways to get rid of them anyway,” Vivi said. “And maybe even ways to legislate against it, perhaps even putting a cap on how many years the subject can be.”

“Jinsoul was writing about ways to give you a natural ageing process,” Haseul countered. “There could be a way to have a slow degradation of the organs that way. Put in materials with a specific longevity.”

She looked pleased at that. “That’s been the focus at the moment, mostly because I’ve wanted them to focus on that.” 

Haseul didn’t know what to say to that. She _wanted_ to mortal? 

“When my friends are old and wrinkled,” Vivi chuckled, “I’d like to be sure that I’ll be too.” A pause. “It’ll be induced, because I physically can’t, but I’ve made Jinsoul promise me that when it came to it, I would die of old age.” 

Haseul frowned. 

Vivi met her gaze and just shook her head. “I will not live longer than the ones who came before me and I won’t live on without the people I started all this with.” She then raised a brow, looking slightly confused. “Has that made sense or should I start again?” The corner of her lip tilted up again. 

“If a leader from thousands of years ago had heard you say that, they’d have slapped you.” 

She laughed. “My father wanted me to double my lifespan as well.” She shook her head. “It’s something he would’ve done had he died and come back.” 

That was another thing. Vivi talked about it like it wasn’t a big deal. 

Except there was a log from the first year, one Heejin had let her read (albeit with pursed lips a raised eyebrow). Vivi had started with phantom pain all over her body. Sometimes it would be her head, other times her hands, or even her entire blood vessels. She’d started barely knowing her own body as _hers_. 

And here she was, talking about it like it was as simple as her father wanting a new ship. 

“A lot of Aphroditans probably wouldn’t mind,” Haseul said. “They love you. I mean that too, I know Aphroditans, and not the ones who’d, you know, gain a lot from sucking up to you.” 

Vivi raised a brow. “You mean criminals.” 

Pause. 

“Maybe.” 

The queen laughed. “Well, I’m flattered if I can make even them happy,” she shook her head, “but my brother is next in line for the throne. Her daughter will most likely come into power when it’s time. They know what I am, so once they have the authorisation to see, well, the rest, they won’t be too surprised.” 

Haseul had stopped working entirely. She didn’t want to miss a word of what Vivi was saying. It all felt like it wasn’t supposed to make sense, but it did. 

It also made sense why Hyunjin looked up to her the way she did—why someone from _Artemis_ would actually serve an Aphroditan royal without some alterior motive. 

“But isn’t there a risk that they’d misuse what you know?” Haseul asked. “Good intentions can still be twisted, either ten years later, or a month later.” 

Vivi nodded. “And there’s no guarantee I won’t be the one to do that in ten years.” She sighed. “Or that the next virus takes its course even more quickly and makes me do something I won’t be able to reverse.” She tapped her head again. “There wouldn’t be the option of heightening the defences here, would there?” 

“I could try,” Haseul fought her own sigh, “but I’m not exactly the best at making defences. I just crack them.” 

“Then I’ll leave it for another time,” Vivi chuckled, “and Heejin’s not too bad at it.”

The mention made Haseul think again of those two and their protectiveness over Vivi. “What did they think about this whole thing? The research, you sticking to a mortal life.” 

“Neither Heejin nor Hyunjin agreed,” Vivi replied. “But that’s because they like the idea of me on the throne.” She bit her lip. “But I won’t start that. What happens the next time?” 

“You mean, what happens if it’s a tyrant?” 

She nodded.

Haseul debated telling her about what had actually happened then. 

Vivi kept talking. “I still want this destroyed. I still want there to be no evidence, no possibility of this happening again.” Then she deflated, her posture faltering. “But at the same time, I know how much good could be brought. The first example is your friend. There are countless others that follow.” 

“I’m not sure if you need to be worrying about that right now,” Haseul said. 

“Not right now, no,” she said. “But I have, and will have to.” She pursed her lips. “I wouldn’t raise the subject when we get there, but I know very well how much Jinsoul discusses it with her group. They have just as many benefits as I have negatives, but they’ve also raised many problems with it too.” 

“And that’ll be figured out then,” Haseul told her. “But right now, I think we should be grateful you didn’t burn these papers.” 

“Would you?” Vivi asked. “If you had the choice, would you let all this stay?” 

Haseul looked at the papers, the machines she was building, and then Vivi herself. There was a lot to be afraid of, because anything this advanced could be extremely dangerous. 

But it could also help a lot. 

And maybe it was selfish, but if there wasn’t any of this, they’d only have Hyejoo’s mind in the ship and all she’d be with them was a body that couldn’t survive on its own. 

“I would,” Haseul said. “Because what I was working on back then,” she hesitated, “it—well, I don’t think the people in control of it would’ve ever been like you.” She took up her tablet and looked at it, searching for any flaw in one of the designs. 

“Like me?” Vivi sounded confused. 

“I wouldn’t have trusted them to use my work for what I’d wanted it to do.” She found a mistake. “So I destroyed it.” She saved the first diagram before she started the correction. “But that doesn’t mean they won’t figure out how to do it in fifty years time.” 

When she looked up, it was only to see that Vivi was already looking at her. The look in her eyes wasn’t something Haseul hadn’t seen in a while. She’d missed it. 

“Because you can’t stop progress like that,” Haseul said. “So the way I see it, the person who kickstarts the whole movement has to know what they’re doing, know what could happen, and be ready for it.” She kept working on the blueprint. “And I think you and Jinsoul’s team could be the one for this.” 

After a long moment, Vivi got to her feet. She knelt down in front of Haseul. She was smiling brighter than Haseul had ever seen, even in her short time being here. 

“Thank you, Haseul.” She took her hand and squeezed it for a short moment. “I’ve already told you I will, but I know you still doubt me.” She let go. “But I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you with your friend and that you will come away from this free to live your life as you did before we brought you here.”

“Olivia,” Haseul said. “That’s her name. At least the name that won’t give her away completely.” 

Vivi just grinned. “Then I’ll make sure we can give Olivia her life back.” The expression faltered for a brief second. “But there’s an adjustment period.” She glanced at the papers. “I guess you already know about them?”

Haseul just nodded. She was both blushing and beaming at the same time. “I do, and that’s something we’ll deal with when we get there.” She had to resist the urge to hug the queen. “Thanks as well, Vivi. This means a lot.” 

She wasn’t just talking about the promise. She hoped Vivi knew that. 

"And what about that break I asked you to take?" The queen raised a brow. 

Haseul smiled back at her. "I just took it." She dodged the weak slap the queen aimed her way, holding back a laugh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, Haseul posting again made my day and is probably the main reason I was able to write this chapter. That with the SHINee comeback has made this a very good day for me. 
> 
> If you couldn't tell, this story isn't scientifically accurate. I try for as long as I can, but my mind has limits and they stop at basic physics and some semi decent neurobiology. Space travel is a fun concept for me and I won't be explaining how they get from one planet to another in a short amount of time (but I'm pretty sure that's not why you're reading this). 
> 
> These characters are an absolute blast to write. I love them all. You haven't met them yet, but oec and yyxy are also wonderful. There may be a spin-off for oec, but I'm going to try and wait until I finish one of my stories on here (either that or I'll give into temptation, but we'll see). 
> 
> I'm honestly so happy that people are reading this! Sci-fi is a lot of fun to write for and I love to read it, but it's hard for me to get into properly. However, this story is something I'm getting so passionate about, so I'm glad to be able to share this on here too. 
> 
> Hope you're all doing well! Stay safe and see you next chapter. 


	6. Failsafe

Whenever the ship touched down on Artemis station, Vivi couldn’t help but feel like she was stepping foot on enemy ground. 

The majority of people didn’t hate her, she’d been assassinated on Aphrodite, and she’d gotten the virus in her head on another craft, so the biggest dangers hadn’t ever been on Artemis. 

Still, years of growing up with histories of their wars, being forced to go into hiding for a year because there’d been a threat to her life when she’d been twelve, had instilled a fear of Artemis that she couldn’t shake. 

Even if this was the place she’d gotten her life back. 

Immediately, she could feel the way her head picked up on different signals. She could even feel the lab in the distance. It wasn’t a sharp pain, but a dull one that kept rising. 

People were smiling when she climbed out of the ship. Four masked women followed her. One of them was Haseul, but Hyunjin had spent the greater part of two days trying to perfect her gait to match it. If they were scanning for that, or Haseul’s prosthetic fingers, they wouldn’t find either. Haseul had been responsible for that, having specific gloves to block the signals, as well as being able to turn off whatever connected her brain to those fingers. 

There were a series of greetings with everyone who’d been considered to matter the most. They’d all volunteered (or bought their way in). This would let them show their face, make their names known, and maybe even start to become her acquaintances. Only time would tell. 

Vivi finally managed to get to the last person, probably here purely for the intention of starting a trade deal, before she was greeted by a masked face she already knew. The gait wasn’t familiar, but the barely concealed excitement and careful fiddling with her belt was definitely a giveaway. 

Her head was pounding. She’d gotten Haseul to disable everything that linked her to something. There were still sensors in her mind and they were still almost overwhelmed with what was on the station. Still, the pain was bearable. 

And it proved Haseul had gotten enough of an understanding to make those changes without making anything worse. 

“Queen Viian.” The girl bowed. Her helmet was purple and the visor silver. Her voice had been pitched down too. “I’ll be showing you to your accommodations.” Yerim still spoke in a way that let you know she was smiling. 

Vivi nodded, fighting her own smile. “Thank you.”

The five of them followed. Others in the station looked down from other floors or the windows. 

Vivi smiled at them, but didn’t wave. On Artemis, waving was almost as bad as announcing that ‘the queen had arrived’. While most didn’t passionately hate her, they certainly didn’t like her. 

“Enjoyable trip?” Yerim asked. 

Vivi almost told her she didn’t have to speak while they were outside, but she knew she was probably having fun with it. 

“Very,” she said. “Is the helmet getting a bit stuffy?”

“I wanted to just wear a mask,” Yerim muttered. “But they wouldn’t let me.” She tapped the back of her helmet. “I had a hair change. Apparently,” Vivi could practically hear the eye-roll, “it stands out too much. On a station of fugitives and maniacs.”

“And I’m certainly not talking to a maniac, am I?” Vivi asked. 

She tipped her head. “Of course not, Your Highest of Majesties.” 

They were led to one of the many tunnel systems. After a few hundred metres, they reached a wall with one of the many little shuttles to better navigate Artemis station. 

Yerim tapped on a part of the wall with a rhythm of a song from many years ago. It wasn’t exactly in the middle, in a corner, or even the bottom. It was one that could only be found at random, but even then the rhythm was unique enough not to get by accident.

The wall slid back, before moving to the side. 

Yerim ushered them into the room that followed, the light of her helmet turning on. There were boxes, their contents ranging from weapons, empty fuel cells, to stocks of food and liquor. Anyone who found it would think they’d just found someone’s cache. They probably wouldn’t look much further. 

“I’ve been in places like this before,” Haseul said quietly. “I know about most of them too.” 

“Not this one,” Hyunjin said, a bit of pride in her voice. She’d taken off her helmet. 

Yerim moved one box with a Minatozaki label to the side. She pressed again on the section of wall. 

A portion of the ground behind her slid away, revealing a keypad. After the code was typed in, a mechanical lock appeared. It had seven numbers. 

A hacker could take the keypad, but the lock was another failsafe. 

The next wall revealed a door that needed a key. 

“Paranoid?” Haseul asked. She still wore her helmet. 

“Thorough,” Vivi replied.

Once the door opened, the room was bathed in a gentle orange glow. 

“Nice.” Haseul smiled. “It’s good you didn’t slack off with this.”

“Those two designed it,” Vivi said, nodding Hyunjin and Heejin’s way. 

“Before or after?” 

“We always wanted there to be a place secure enough for all of us,” Heejin said. “And then we had to turn most of it into a lab.” 

“Common area’s still nice,” Yerim rolled her neck over her shoulders, “and their old rooms are pretty comfortable.” Then she reached for her helmet. “Can I take this off now?” 

“Wait until the guest’s done it,” Yeojin said. “She could’ve been switched out.”

Haseul snorted. “These’re top of the line suits. Who’d have been able to get the hardware _and_ right identification in time for that?”

“You probably know them,” Heejin threw back. “So it’s possible.” 

“You just heard me talk,” she said slowly. “And yeah, I know them.” She took her helmet off, shaking her hair out of her face when she did. “Next?” She raised a brow at Yerim. 

A soft laugh, before she took off her own helmet. With her hair in a tight bun, she would’ve looked older were it not for the wild purple colour she’d donned. 

“I like it,” Vivi said. “But it does stand out. Even among the criminals and eccentric scientists.” 

“Lucky I’m one of the best then.” Yerim grinned. Then she turned to Haseul. “Hi! It’s an honour to have you.” She walked over, a spring in each step, before holding out a hand with a broad grin. “Choerry.” 

“Should I also use a fake name?” Haseul shook her hand. 

“I mean,” she giggled, “you could, but we all know who you are. I’m a huge fan too, so that doesn’t really work.” 

“A fan?” Haseul repeated. “I was a scientist, not a celebrity.” 

“I read your works four times each, and I’m the one who rebuilt and upgraded your second-to-last machine.” She shrugged. “Plus I helped Vivi with about three quarters of her brain.” 

Haseul’s eyes were popping out of her head. 

Vivi had to laugh. She didn’t even cover her mouth. Her teachers would’ve scolded her for hours for that. 

She kept laughing. 

_____

Even with the chorus of laughter in the background, Haseul couldn’t help but stare. 

This girl couldn’t have been more than twenty-five and she’d done something Haseul could’ve only dreamed of making. And if she’d been there for the accident, then she’d been even younger than this. 

“I had help, of course,” Choerry added. “They funnelled the right research to me, I had the right tools, and then even more tools when I changed some things up, plus,” her eyes were practically sparkling, “your stuff wasn’t all that bad of an addition either. Wouldn’t have got even half of the stuff we did without it.” She turned to Vivi. “Can she already come in? Please?” 

The queen was still smiling widely. It looked like the one she’d had on for the crowd, but her eyes actually lit up. “The other two are fine with it?”

“We won’t be getting any more work done otherwise.” Choerry bound over to a door at the far end and opened it. “Come on. This’s where the biggest secret of our lives started.” Her smile widened even more. Somehow. 

Haseul wondered then if Vivi alluding to Choerry being a maniac was true. Her excitement was blinding. What she’d apparently managed to do here was almost overwhelming. 

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” Vivi said, lightly squeezing her arm. “None of you will be missed much. They prefer when I don’t have a lot of guards.” She then nodded to Yeojin. “Alright for a few rounds around the station? I think they’d still give you a discount for parts.” 

Yeojin grinned. “It’ll make that hell worth it.”

“Good luck!” Choerry called from the door. “And bring me back some pens. The ones you always get.”

Yeojin nodded once, a slightly softer smile appearing. “Sure.”

And then the two were leaving. Haseul was both surprised and a bit disappointed. She should’ve known that Vivi couldn’t just disappear for hours on end, especially on Artemis. 

Haseul crossed the common room. She recognised an old game console. It might’ve been the tenth of its kind. Fast, but it lacked most of the AR features. Even its VR was clunky, but apparently people liked what games they could still play. 

There were a few other doors. Probably going to the sleeping areas? She wondered if she’d be able to explore, or if they’d keep her to certain rooms. 

Choerry opened the door and disappeared into the room. 

Haseul tried to keep her own excitement from coming up. With all the notes she’d read, she didn’t really know what to expect—her bets were equally placed on it being a lab from the stuff of nightmares, or an absolute paradise. 

What she found was somewhere in between. 

The lab was filled with the perfect lighting. Nothing looked broken and the tech was probably of the best quality she’d ever seen, but there was so _much_ of it. She recognised an old-school PCR machine, because Jinsoul was still a fan of the old gen-tech. It was simpler apparently, but Haseul knew that Jinsoul just liked to keep things from being completely automated. They had that in common at least. 

A few of the workbenches looked clean, but others had papers all across their surface, joined by pipettes or half filled beakers. She even saw a half-built sea slug. This was definitely Jinsoul’s lab.

Choerry skipped over to the machines shoved off to the side. “Meet Hypnos One, Six and Seven” 

“Seven tries?” Haseul looked at them. There weren’t any others that looked like them. 

Choerry patted a box. “I recycled two, three, four and five to make the last two, but kept my first one.” She grinned. “It sucked.” 

Haseul chuckled. “Are you saying the original sucked?”

Choerry’s eyes widened. “Of course not! It was the foundation. If you hadn’t done any of that, we’d have been—”

“Don’t worry,” she winked, “I know how important I was. For all of this.” 

Choerry laughed and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, six and seven have some unique functions, so we decided to keep both around.” Her smile was fond as she looked at them. 

It might’ve been too soon, but Haseul was starting love this girl. If she’d tried and tried again to perfect the machine, managing to get the tech to replicate Vivi’s mind, Haseul wondered if there’d be time to have a look at this girl’s research. Or just to talk to her about what she was planning. 

“Seventy-five percent of her brain, huh? Did you take the lead for it too?” 

Somehow, Choerry’s eyes lit up even more. “I mean, I knew what we needed, but we had to get other people for the specifics. I got the synthetic nerves over on the north, there’s this great lab. And then—“

“Everything we can tell you about later,” a new voice said. It was new, but Haseul recognised it. The way you knew a voice from presentations. 

It was attached to someone whose face might’ve been on the networks a few times for the whole ‘smart, but hot’ trend that came up with each new conference. Haseul had been featured twice. She’d been embarrassingly proud of that. She’d almost regretted removing those posts because no one in Eden had believed she’d ever been on it. 

Jungeun Kim was a biochemist. A really hot one at that. 

And an Aphroditan through and through. Northern too, so she’d gotten involved with politics early on. 

“Morning.” Jungeun’s lips curled into a smirk that was almost annoying with how attractive it was. “Do I call you Jo, Miss, or Doc?” 

“Haseul,” she held a hand out, “is it Kim, Miss or Doctor?” 

The smirk softened slightly. “Jungeun.” She took her hand and shook it. “It’s good to finally meet you. I managed to push myself through your work, so thanks for making sure your writing wasn’t dry as all hell.” 

Haseul laughed. “Yours isn’t all that bad either.” She tapped the case of papers. “I’m guessing yours is the nicest writing here? If it is, congratulations on helping to create a semi-functional immune system.” 

“Hey,” Jinsoul strode over now, “do I have to remind you that your writing’s absolutely terrible?” She grabbed Haseul’s hand and shook it firmly. “I’ve got a piranha with rollers ready if any of that’s ruined.” She nodded at the case. 

Jinsoul was another who’d featured on those lists. They were all right, because the woman was almost too stunning, except her looks hid a person Haseul was half convinced was mad. The occasional threats of cybernetic aquatic creatures didn’t help. Her dark hair was also close to being frizzy and her glasses painfully close to being crooked. 

“I might’ve torn off the pictures of the queen,” Heejin said. She shoved a few papers into Jinsoul’s hand. “You should’ve taken these off before passing them on.” 

Jinsoul stared at them. “You wanted her to see everything. Everything includes the state Vivi was in after,” she looked pained, “after what happened.” 

“The descriptions were enough!” Heejin glared at her. Then she looked at Jungeun and Choerry. “Didn’t one of you see that?” 

Jungeun shook her head. “Must’ve missed it.”

“You told me not to keep them in,” Jinsoul said then. 

Jungeun deflated slightly, but the exchange didn’t fail to make Haseul smile. Aphrodite had a blame culture, same as Saturn. Jungeun taking the blame, even for something as small as this, was a good sign. 

“It’s fine,” Heejin sighed, “but the next time we’re revealing top secret information, I don’t want any more people seeing how bad that was.” She grimaced. “ _I_ don’t want to see it again either.”

 _Neither does the queen_ , Haseul thought. Even if the exact memory of the explosion wasn’t there, just living through the aftermath, having to learn that you’d been rebuilt—seeing your broken body was as far as a comfort as you could get. 

“Anyway,” Hyunjin cleared her throat, “Haseul’s been working on another machine.”

“We have the tests ready,” Jinsoul said. She looked to Haseul, a determined look to her. She still had an earnestness that hadn’t faded even after years of working this job. 

It’s probably why she was chosen for this and basically made head of the team. They had someone who wouldn’t give up. 

“I’ll be ready by the end of the week,” Haseul said. “But I can give you the plans for a prototype.” 

Choerry clapped her hands. “Perfect! I’ll get straight to it.” 

Haseul didn’t miss the fond looks on both Jungeun and Jinsoul’s faces. Even if Jungeun put her expression back into something indifferent in the next moment. 

“I’ll show you where you’re working.” Jungeun’s eyes went to one of the messier tables and then back to Jinsoul. Her brow rose ever so slightly. 

Jinsoul shrank away, lips forming a pout. “Fine, fine.” She started gathering the papers into a pile and putting them in the corner. 

When Jungeun walked past her, Jinsoul just barely caught her hand, linking one finger with hers before letting go. 

Haseul was torn between gagging and saying something that would’ve definitely brought the wrath of an Aphroditan down on her. She chose just following Jungeun to the workspace. 

“We’ve got a bit of free space, because other opportunities have been coming up for the team.” Jungeun pointed at the workbench. It had its own tablet and a stack of papers, probably for notes that wouldn’t be allowed to leave this lab. 

“You’re allowed to be on other projects? Just like that?” 

She gave her a look. “No one can ever say anything, otherwise they’d be hunted down and dealt with.” She shrugged. “But of course they can keep their actual jobs.” 

“They can use some of what we learn here.” Jinsoul was sitting on one of the tables now, despite the rest of the lab still being pretty messy. “But we’re in charge of deciding what they’re allowed to use.” She didn’t look happy about what she’d just said. 

“Most of them have to backtrack,” Jungeun said. “We made up timelines for some of the hypotheses.”

So that the leaps in research were subtle. It was also a way of controlling how that field advanced. Another potential failsafe?

“Some,” Haseul repeated. “You can just say all, I kept up with some of your work on the side.” 

Jungeun narrowed her eyes. It was more than a little intimidating. Haseul wondered if there were classes just for that on Aphrodite. 

“Don’t worry,” Choerry slung an arm around Jungeun’s shoulders, “just say she’s a control freak and that’s that.” 

Surprisingly, Jungeun didn’t even look irritated. She just elbowed Choerry in the ribs, before she kept talking. “Did you actually manage to read everything? Or do we need to explain something? Or did you have any questions?” 

“Can I ask them over dinner?” 

Jungeun’s brow rose. “You’re in hiding and that’s your question?” 

Haseul glanced at Jinsoul, only to see she was jotting something down in her notebook. When she looked up, she smiled softly at Jungeun, either oblivious to what was being said or extremely confident in what she had. 

“I’m a little busy,” Jungeun smirked, “but I can fit you in somewhere between getting a virus out of a queen’s head and solving whatever other problem it is you’ve got.” 

Haseul’s brow shot up. “What?” 

“Work on your poker face,” she chided. “That could’ve just been a lucky guess.” 

Haseul rounded on Hyunjin and Heejin. “What did you tell tell them?”

“First,” Jinsoul hopped off the table, “you wouldn’t have been reading Jungie’s notes if you weren’t trying to learn beyond Vivi’s brain.” She smiled lightly. “Either that or you were really interested.” Then she went over to her. “And there was an index, so if you’d _just_ gone for the interesting stuff then—”

“Wait a second,” Jungeun frowned, “you’re saying—” 

“Jungie?” Haseul repeated. 

“Don’t push it,” Jungeun said, now wearing a smile. It was scarier than a frown. “I have just as much control over the piranha as Jinsoul does.” 

“He likes you.” Jinsoul leaned into her side. “That’s not you controlling him.” 

Jungeun’s lip twitched. 

“I’m not sure if that was the point,” Haseul said, chuckling. “But I’ll believe you.” 

“So who’s it for?” Jinsoul asked. “Lover? Sister? Best friend? Person you didn’t mean to almost kill?” 

“Option number three,” Haseul tried not to look disturbed, “and what makes you think I’d ever do the last one?” 

“You work for Eden,” Jungeun said. “Avoiding collateral damage isn’t always a strong suit, but you try.” 

Haseul wondered if she’d ever tell Sooyoung about that. Maybe she’d suggest putting out a few pictures from Jungeun’s academy. She can’t have always looked like that. 

“It’s someone who’s being kept alive by more tech than any of those cyborg animals of yours,” Haseul said. “And I linked her mind to our ship to keep all the information there, but we don’t know how to save her body any better than just keeping her alive.”

Both of their expressions shifted. Jungeun’s went from smug to sympathetic. Jinsoul’s was thoughtful. 

“We can work with that,” Jinsoul muttered. “We’ve worked with a lot less too.” She opened her notepad, flicking back. “Is this allowed?” she called across the room. 

Hyunjin and Heejin looked up at the same time. They both gave a thumbs up. Then Hyunjin tossed a paper aeroplane their way. 

Jungeun caught it, opened it, before showing it to Jinsoul. They were quiet while they read it, leaving Haseul to wonder if keeping massive secrets from the galaxy was some incredible bonding experience. 

“Wow!” Jinsoul grinned. “How’d you get in Her Majesty’s good graces like that?” 

Jungeun folded the paper and put it in her pocket. Haseul was tempted to steal it later just to see what it said. 

Jungeun winked at her. _Try it_ , that said. 

Haseul wondered if she’d just end up losing her fingers. Again. Or worse. There was no telling what courses the Aphroditans ended up going through. She’d had enough surprises with Sooyoung, even more with Chaewon. Artermisians weren’t much better. She’d seen a _lot_ of that with Hyejoo and Jiwoo. 

“I’m trying to heal her head?” 

Jinsoul shook her head. “Then you’d have just seen our notes, and not all of them,” she said. “And she’d never have brought you here either.” She sat down. “She’s letting us help you and the one you’re trying to save like we did for her.”

It took a few seconds for that to sink in. 

“What?” Haseul’s voice sounded like a squeak. 

Surprisingly, no one laughed at that. 

“We’ll help you,” Jungeun said. “After Vivi’s alright, we’ll see what we can do for your friend.”

Haseul looked for any flicker of a lie there. She looked for doubt in Hyunjin and Heejin. She looked for unease in Jinsoul, because she was the worst at hiding that kind of thing. 

There was nothing. 

Was that all it took? A note from the queen to say she could be trusted? She might’ve known Jinsoul before, but not enough to be someone she’d trust like she would Choerry or Jungeun. Even if Choerry had followed her work, what’d happened later didn’t give her any good reason to expect the best from her. 

And Jungeun had practically no reason to trust her. Even less because of the connection to Eden.

“Why?” 

“You’re probably the good kind of fugitive,” Choerry replied. “Plus you’re either so threatened by what’d happen if you spilled any secrets, or you actually believe they shouldn’t be said.” She hadn’t even read the note. 

“If you’re an absolutely terrible person, then we probably won’t get all that involved,” Jinsoul shrugged, “but if you give us as much information about what her condition is, Jungeun and I can start planning.” 

“And we’ll work on the brain you’ll transfer things to,” Choerry said. “I can show her how to make the hardware, right?” She looked to the two. When they nodded, she grinned. “You’ll love it.”

Haseul was starting to get emotional. This wasn’t the trust you got with friends, but something else. Since she’d left Earth, she hadn’t been trusted by people who’d just _heard_ about who she was. 

As she saw Jinsoul grab a new piece of paper and start to sketch something, while Jungeun sat beside her, murmuring something that sounded a lot like a list of what they’d need to order, she had to smile. 

And Vivi trusted these people, enough to have secrets that people would pay any price for and continue to further what they knew and could do. She trusted them enough to help someone none of them really knew, to save someone none of them actually knew. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I'll next be updating. Life is pretty busy, both this week and next week. Still, I wanted to get something out in the mean time, as well as finally introduce oec.
> 
> I don't think I'll be that detailed about what they'll actually be doing, but I'll try to keep things making some sort of sense. My brain tends to be a little fried from my lectures, so while I'll try to maintain that, it probably won't be in huge amounts. 
> 
> I hope you're all doing well! This story is an absolute blast and if you're enjoying it, that makes it all the better. Do let me know what you think! 
> 
> See you next chapter. 

**Author's Note:**

> @hblake44  
> 


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